BT  205  . C684  1869 
Coulin,  Frank 
The  son  of  man 


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J* 


THE  SON  OF  MAN  : 


Discourses 

ON  THE 

HUMANITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


FRANK  COULIN, 


D.D., 


Minister  of  the  National  Church  of  Geneva,. 


(Cran^tatefc  toitf)  tfte  Sanction  of  tfje  ?tutf)or. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

CLAXTON,  REMSEN,  AND  HAFFELFINGER, 

819  &  821,  MARKET  STREET. 

1869. 


4 

TRANSLATOR’S  PREFACE. 

It  has  been  said,  that  “the  secret  of  oratory  lies 
not  in  saying  new  things,  but  in  saying  things 
with  a  certain  power  that  moves  the  hearers;” 
and  by  another  writer,  “that  that  preacher  will  do 
well,  who,  by  new  combinations,  or  a  happy  style 
of  illustration,  shall  cause  men  to  look  upon 
old  truths  with  a  new  interest.”  It  has  been 
thought  that  the  writer  of  these  Discourses  has, 
in  an  eminent  degree,  attained  this  power,  and 
has  succeeded  in  giving  a  new  interest  to  old 
truths.  No  apology,  therefore,  is  required  for 
offering  them  to  English  readers,  for  whom  they 
are  no  less  adapted  than  for  his  hearers  at  Paris 
and  Geneva. 


VI 


TRANSLATOR’S  PREFACE. 


It  is  by  the  special  desire  of  the  Author  that 
the  Address  on  the  Teaching  of  Jesus  Christ 
accompanies  the  other  Discourses.  It  was  deli¬ 
vered  at  the  opening  of  the  Salle  de  la  Reformation, 
at  Geneva,  in  September,  1867. 


JANE  STURGE. 


North  fleet,  March ,  1869. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH .  j 

/ 

II.  THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST . 

III.  THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS  . 105 

IV.  THE  RISEN  ONE . jr2 

$ 

V.  THE  KING . 210 

THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST . 263 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 

i. 

3!estts  of  Jl3a?arctf). 

“  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 

was  lost.” — Luke  xix.  io. 

I  y 

“  T  AM  that  which  has  been,  and  which  is,  and 
JL  which  is  to  be,  and  my  veil  no  mortal  hath 
yet  drawn  aside.”  This  is  the  inscription  which 
ancient  Egypt  had  engraved  on  the  pediment  of 
one  of  its  most  famous  temples  to  describe  the 
Divinity.  It  testifies  at  once  to  the  universal 
desire  of  man  to  seek  an  unknown  God,  and  the 
mysterious  silence  which  awaits  him  when  left 


B 


2  THE  SON  OF  MAN. 

to  his  own  powers  in  the  search.  “  Who  is  He 
then  ?  ”  has  been  asked  in  turn  by  all  nations ; 
“  who  is  then  this  almighty  and  invisible  Being,  of 
whose  glory  the  heavens  speak,  who  fills  all  space 
with  His  presence,  who  makes  the  universe  His 
temple,  from  whom  all  things  proceed,  to  whom 
they  all  return,  who  is,  who  has  been,  who  will 
be?”  He  asserts  His  existence,  He  awes  us,  He 
has  sanctuaries  built  for  Him  everywhere ;  but 
His  face  is  mystery,  and  no  mortal  has  yet  been 
able  to  draw  aside  His  veil. 

My  brethren,  eighteen  centuries  ago  there  ap¬ 
peared  a  mortal  who  affirmed  that  He  had  drawn 
aside  this  veil  for  ever;  who  even  declared  that 
He  presented  the  likeness  of  the  invisible  God  in 
His  own  person  to  those  who  contemplate  Him. 
A  Son  of  Man  once  dared  to  say  to  His  fellow- 
creatures  :  “  No  man  knoweth  who  the  Father  is, 
but  the  Son;”*  and  to  add,  “He  that  hath  seen 
me  hath  seen  the  Father.”!  This  pretention  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  unique  in  history,  and  it  is 

f  John  xiv.  9. 


*  Luke  x.  22. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


3 


assuredly  awful,  if  not  founded  in  truth.  He 
stated  it  without  reserve,  and  in  all  its  enormity, 
first  to  the  disciples,  then  in  presence  of  the 
people,  then  before  the  rulers,  then  before  the 
world.  He  maintained  it  without  flinching  during 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  a  life  ended  by  the  greatest 
sufferings ;  and,  on  quitting  the  world,  He  left  to 

i 

the  human  race  panting  in  the  pursuit  of  the  true 
God,  as  a  unique  and  definite  article  of  faith : 
“  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting 
life.”*  It  is  true  that  this  pretention  recalls  and 
pre-supposes  another  still  more  extraordinary. 
He  was,  He  said  Himself,  in  the  beginning  with 
God,  in  the  bosom  of  God,  the  only  Son  of 
God,  and  only  became  man  for  the  precise  pur¬ 
pose  of  removing  every  veil  from  the  eyes  of  man, 
and  of  showing  him  the  face  of  God.  In  the 
beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  In  him  was  life, 
and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men.  And  the  Word 
was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we 


*  John  iii.  36. 


4 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 


beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten 
of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth.* 

Thus  does  one  of  the  historians  of  His  life  ex¬ 
press  himself,  the  most  intimate  confidant  of  His 
thoughts  and  of  His  teaching. 

A  complete  study  of  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
would  perhaps  require  the  establishment  of  this 
pre-existence,  and  the  evidence  of  this  divine  and 
supernatural  character  before  everything  else. 

My  design,  however,  is  not  to  attempt  the 
demonstration  of  this.  Need  I  say  that  I  consider 
the  point  to  be  established,  and  I  make  no  secret 
of  my  conviction.  But  I  wish  to  place  myself 
with  you  on  the  level  of  those  who  do  not  share  it, 
and  I  propose  to  speak  to  you  in  these  discourses 
as  of  a  man,  the  Son  of  Man. 

I  shall  go  forth  to  meet  Him  on  the  high  road  of 
history.  I  shall  take  His  name  as  I  find  it  in  the 
annals  of  the  human  race  in  the  genealogical  tree 
of  our  common  family.  If  He  has  a  more  noble 
parentage,  so  much  the  better !  The  light  of  it 

*  John  i.  1,2,  4,  14. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


5 


will  be  reflected  upon  us.  I  shall  not  clasp  His 
hand  less  warmly  when  I  call  Him  my  brother. 

Do  not  imagine  that  I  am  embarrassed  by  con¬ 
fining  myself  to  this  special  point  of  view.  Quite 
the  contrary ;  for  if  Christian  doctrine  is  founded 
upon  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  you  will  observe 
that  it  implies  two  things,  of  which  there  is,  in 
my  opinion,  equal  proof.  The  first  is  His  real  and 
evident  humanity,  the  second  that  this  humanity 
is  stamped  with  such  a  seal  that  it  is  impossible 
not  to  go  higher  in  order  to  explain  it.  Even  the 
title  that  He  gave  Himself,  and  which  we  have 
inscribed  upon  our  banner  because  it  always 
endears  Him  to  us,  this  title  of  the  Son  of  Man,  if 
it  does  not  designate  a  man,  is  nothing  but  a 
lie  ;  and  if  it  designates  only  a  man,  who  is  not 

i 

recommended  by  anything  particular  to  the 
special  attention  of  other  men,  it  is  a  vain  and 
.foolish  title. 

The  Son  of  Man;  He  is  unique  among  men,  al¬ 
though  really  and  fundamentally  a  man.  I  take, 
then,  this  perfect  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ  as  a 


6 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


starting  point,  and  in  exhibiting  the  exceptional 
character  of  it,  my  aim  will  be  to  conduct  you 
to  the  conclusion  proclaimed  in  the  Gospels,  that 
“  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto 
Himself.”* 

This  is  the  course  we  shall  pursue.  We  will 
begin  by  taking  a  general  view  of  the  historical 
personage,  the  study  of  whom  I  submit  for  your 
consideration.  We  will  observe  the  man,  His 
plan,  His  method.  This  will  be  the  subject  of 
the  first  discourse. 

If  well  conceived,  it  will  lead  us  to  demand  the 
moral  perfection  of  one  who  presents  Himself  on 
the  theatre  of  the  world  with  a  programme  like 
that  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  We  shall  see  in  the 
second  discourse  whether  He  complies  with  that 
condition. 

In  a  world  in  which  sin  and  suffering  reign,, 
perfect  holiness  could  only  sustain  itself  with 
respect  to  sin  on  condition  of  bearing  the  weight 
of  suffering  in  all  its  intensity.  It  is  in  suffering 

*  2  Cor.  v.  19. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


7 


and  by  suffering  that  it  receives  and  renders  its 
highest  testimony. 

The  immolation  of  the  Holy  One  and  the  Just, 
His  voluntary  descent  into  the  abyss  of  grief,  of 
death  and  malediction,  will  be  our  third  subject 
of  discourse. 

The  history  of  the  Son  of  Man  then  arrives  at 
the  culminating  point  of  interest.  An  absolute 
struggle  takes  place,  a  thrilling  question  arises. 
Which  shall  be  the  victor  ?  The  power  of  sin  by 
the  triumph  of  death,  or  the  power  of  life  by  the 
triumph  of  the  Holy  Victim  ?  It  is  a  question 
of  fact  which  will  oblige  us  to  examine  closely 
the  chief  event  of  the  Gospel  history,  the  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  key-stone  of  the 
arch.  I  tell  you  so  beforehand.  Then,  in  a  final 
discourse,  we  shall  see  presented  the  title,  or 
rather  the  fact  of  a  true  royalty,  arising  from 
the  character  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  from 
His  triumphant  manifestation  in  the  bosom  of 
humanity,  in  other  words,  from  all  the  travail  of 
His  soul,  such  as  it  will  have  been  disclosed  to 


8 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


us ;  a  royalty  which  will  establish  its  seat  in  our 
consciences  and  in  our  souls,  and  after  having 
gathered  the  Church  together  upon  earth,  will 
judge  the  world  in  eternity. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Holy  One  and  the  Just, 
the  Man  of  Sorrows,  the  Risen  One,  the  King ; 
it  is  a  drama  in  which  everything  is  united  by  a 
connecting  link,  and  the  denouement  of  which 
relates  to  nothing  less  than  the  destinies  of 
humanity  according  to  God’s  plan,  who  gave 
His  only  Son  unto  the  world,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life.* 

You  will  certainly  agree  with  me  that  such  a 
subject  recommends  itself  to  us  by  its  sublimity 
as  well  as  by  its  practical  character.  I  approach 
it  with  trembling,  fearing  the  compromising'  con¬ 
tact  of  my  infirmity  for  the  solid  foundations  of 
our  faith.  Nevertheless,  I  approach  it  with  joy. 

To  speak  of  Thee,  of  Thee  only,  O  Jesus,  my 
beloved  Master,  and  to  follow  the  path  which 

*  John  iii.  16. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


9 


Thou  hast  Thyself  chosen  of  manifesting  Thy 
glory  beneath  the  mantle  of  Thy  humiliation,  is 
it  not  enough  to  make  a  heart  leap  which  loves 
Thee,  and  for  which  Thou  hast  done  so  much  ? 

You  will  join  in  our  efforts,  my  brethren,  you 
will  sustain  us  by  earnest  and  sympathetic  at¬ 
tention  ;  but,  above  all,  we  will  together  ask  for 
the  help  of  that  Spirit  of  which  the  Son  of  Man 
said  to  His  disciples  :  “  He  shall  glorify  me,  for  he 
•shall  receive  of  mine  and  shall  show  it  unto  you.”* 

I  have  said,  my  brethren,  that  it  is  a  drama  with 
which  we  are  concerned ;  perhaps  I  ought  to 
begin  by  recalling  the  scene  of  it.  In  order  to 
to  this,  you  must  picture  to  yourselves  in  turn, 
the  ancient  city  of  Bethlehem  on  the  hills  of 
Judah,  the  inn,  the  stable,  then  the  little  town  of 
Nazareth,  gracefully  placed  above  the  slopes  of  a 
green  valley,  with  its  eastern  dwellings,  and  in 
the  midst  of  them  the  house  of  the  carpenter 
Joseph;  then  the  shores  of  the  lake  of  Tiberias, 
its  towns  and  villages;  then  Jerusalem  the  Holy 

*  John  xvi.  14. 


IO 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


City;  on  this  venerable  theatre,  consecrated  already 
by  so  many  touching  recollections,  and  now  to  be, 
the  scene  of  more  touching  events  still,  a  life, 
began  similar  in  every  respect  to  other  lives.  A 
little  infant  comes  into  the  world,  is  wrapped  in 

linen,  and  utters  those  cries  by  which  new-born 

\ 

man  proclaims  his  misery  and  his  infirmity..  The 
child  grows,  he  has  a  mother,  in  whose  heart  the 
history  lived,  so  many  times  repeated  yet  always, 
new,  of  the  first  step,  the  first  wordr  the  first 
question,  of  those  first  rays  of  light  which  an¬ 
nounce  the  dawn  of  intelligence,  the  beginning 
of  reflection  in  the  heaven  of  the  soul. 

Do  not  imagine,  however,  any  greater  prodigy 
than  the  prodigy  of  the  development  of  all  infancy.. 
He  to  whom  the  beautiful  name  of  Jesus,,  which 
signifies  Saviour,  was  given  from  His  birth,,  was., 
subject  to  His  parents  and  pleased  therm  in  alii 
things.  Do  not  hesitate  to  imagine  Him  on 
Mary’s  knees,  hearing  for  the  first  time  of  the 
God  of  Abraham  and  the  story  of  Israel,,  or  im 
Joseph’s  workshop,  learning  to  handle  the  tools. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


ii 


of  his  trade.  He  probably  lost  Joseph  at  an  early 
age,  for  in  the  early  days  of  His  ministry,  when 
He  came  to  preach  in  His  own  country,  they  said 
of  Him:  “Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  the  Son  of 
Mary?”  “As  of  Him,”  says  Bossuet,  “whom 
they  had  seen  keeping  the  shop,  maintaining  a 
widowed  mother  by  His  labours,  and  conducting 
the  little  business  of  a  trade  which  supported  them 
both.” 

We  like  to  collect  characteristic  details  of  the 
childhood  of  great  men,  that  we  may  trace  the 
first  indications  of  their  superiority  and  the  first 
pledges  of  their  future  glory.  If  but  little  has 
been  preserved  to  us  about  the  childhood  of  Jesus, 
is  it  not  that  it  offered  less  than  most  for  this  sort 
of  illustration,  because  it  was  so  natural  ?  How¬ 
ever  this  may  be,  we  must  respect  the  obscurity 
in  which  the  early  years  of  Him  are  wrapped  who 
was  to  enlighten  the  world,  and  we  must  start 
from  the  day  when  He  quitted  His  retreat  to 
manifest  Himself  to  the  world.  One  thing  is 
clear,  that  His  childhood  and  youth  must  have  been 


12 


THE  SON  OF  MAN . 


of  perfect  and  transparent  purity,  for  otherwise, 
His  subsequent  life  would  have  been  inexplicable. 
Every  wound  that  affects  the  soul  leaves  a  trace, 
a  sear,  for  which  you  will  search  in  vain  in  the 
soul  of  Him  who  could  say  with  a  clear  con¬ 
science  :  The  Prince  of  this  world  hath  nothing 
in  me  !* 

He  increased  in  wisdom  and  stature  and  in 
favour  with  God  and  man.  This  is  all  we  know. 

The  Jesus  whom  we  know  in  fact,  we  know 
from  scarcely  anything  else  than  the  three  years 
of  His  public  ministry,  and  yet,  as  has  often  been 
remarked,  if  there  is  in  history  a  living  and  fa¬ 
miliar  figure,  it  is  His.  The  evangelical  biographies 
embrace  but  a  very  short  space  of  time,  comprised 
in  a  very  few  pages.  But  they  have  a  merit,  bor¬ 
rowed  doubtless  from  their  hero  Himself,  that  of 
a  marvellous  and  unsurpassable  sincerity,  I  will 
not  only  say  that  they  bear  the  stamp  of  being  the 
testimony  of  eye-witnesses,  but  so  vividly  is  He  of 
whom  they  speak  presented  to  us,  at  the  distance 

*  John  xiv.  30. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


1 3 


of  eighteen  centuries,  that  in  reading  them  we 
almost  imagine  ourselves  to  be  eye-witnesses. 
You  go  with  Him  from  place  to  place ;  you  mix 
in  the  crowd  which  surrounds  Him ;  you  follow 
His  steps  with  His  disciples;  you  acknowledge 
the  force  of  His  unexampled  moral  authority; 
you  are  touched  by  the  blessings  He  confers ; 
you  are  enlightened  by  His  words ;  He  transports 
you  into  and  keeps  you  without  effort  in  the  region 
of  the  sublime ;  you  cannot  escape  the  conviction, 
that  never  was  there  a  man  above  this  man ;  but 
at  the  same  time  you  receive  an  impression,  that 
never  was  a  man  more  entirely  a  stranger  to  any¬ 
thing  of  an  assumed  character,  or  who  remained 
so  spontaneously  to  the  end  what  He  was  in 
Himself,  and  what  the  original  gifts  of  His  in¬ 
dividuality  made  Him.  Voluntarily  or  involun¬ 
tarily  all  men  act  more  or  less ;  He  never  did. 
And  if,  in  order  fully  to  express  my  idea,  I  may 
use  an  expression  perhaps  a  little  pretentious,  I 
should  say,  He  was  the  most  unsophisticated 
man  that  ever  lived.  Socrates  was  a  philosopher,. 


14 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


Csesar  a  soldier;  Jesus — is  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
There  is  nothing  more  to  be  said. 

I  do  not  know  that  anybody  ever  undertook 
to  demonstrate  that  any  historical  personage, 
Socrates  or  Caesar  for  example,  really  belonged 
to  the  human  race;  but  suppose  such  a  demon¬ 
stration  had  to  be  made,  how  would  one  set 
about  it  ?  I  suppose  by  searching  underneath 
the  special  traits  of  character  and  destiny, 
which  distinguish  these  heroes  from  the  rest  of 
humanity,  for  those  which  they  have  in  common 
with  it.  It  might  be  said  of  Caesar,  although  he 
was  a  soldier,  very  ambitious,  and  a  great  poli¬ 
tician,  still,  in  the  feelings  of  his  heart  and  the 
experiences  of  his  life,  he  shares  like  a  common 
mortal  our  human  nature. 

What  shall  we  say  of  Jesus?  You  will  try  in 
vain  to  find  out  to  what  class  He  belongs,  to  rob 
Him  of  His  costume,  to  define  Him  first,  that  you 
may  afterwards  compare  Him  with  others.  You 
will  seek  in  vain  in  this  case  for  the  man  under- 

i 

neath  the  hero,  for  the  hero  is  the  man  himself. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


15 


Now,  as  He  appears  to  us  in  the  extreme  sim¬ 
plicity  of  His  personality,  what  of  the  essential 
•experience  of  human  life  is  wanting  to  Him  ? 

Need  I  say  that  He  has  a  body  like  our  own;  a 
body  which  eats,  drinks,  sleeps,  is  fatigued,  suffers, 
which  faints,  which  dies.  Need  I  say  either  that 
He  has  a  heart  which  loves,  which  vibrates  with 
all  our  affections  in  turn — those  of  the  family,  of 
friendship,  the  love  of  country,  and,  above  all,  to 
those  of  humanity. 

He  has  a  spirit,  which  is  moved,  which  trembles, 
which  fears  and  hopes,  is  agitated  and  indignant, 
which  is  acquainted  with  the  thrill  of  joy,  and  the 
-agony  of  grief.  He  is  a  son ;  a  citizen  ;  He  has 
been  a  carpenter ;  He  is  poor ;  but,  above  all,  He 
is  a  man,  and  so  completely  a  man,  that  men  of 
'every  age,  and  every  clime,  recognise  Him  as  a 
brother.  In  fact,  we  all  feel  more  attracted  to 
Him  than  to  any  historical  personage  whatever  ; 
before  regarding  them  simply  as  men,  we  think  of 
them  as  Greeks,  Romans,  or  men  of  ancient  or  of 
modern  times.  The  Roman  poet  has  said:  “I  am 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


16 


a  man,  and  nothing  which  is  human  is  foreign  to 
me.”  I  know  of  but  one  figure  underneath  which 
these  words  might  be  inscribed  with  perfect  truth, 
and  that  is  the  figure  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

But  I  have  just  remembered  a  reservation 
which  occurs  to  you.  There  is  one  thing  you 
say  which  He  has  not  experienced.  There  is  one 
mark  which  He  has  not  received,  and  which  is 
enough  to  isolate  Him  absolutely  from  the  rest  of 
the  human  race.  We  have  searched  well,  but 
have  not  been  able  to  find  if.  What  is  it  ?  Sin. 
Sin;  yes,  I  cannot  deny  this  is  a  family  trait 
which  we  all  have  in  common.  Take  man  in  the 
past,  in  the  present,  in  every  stage  of  civilisation, 
in  every  latitude,  take  him  from  among  the  noblest 
of  the  race,  as  well  as  from  among  the  most  de¬ 
graded,  everywhere  you  will  find  the  ineffaceable 
mark  of  the  original  stain,  everyone  receives  his 
share  of  the  lamentable  heritage,  which  the  gener¬ 
ations  of  men  have  transmitted  from  age  to  age. 

Everyone  who  opens  his  eyes  to  the  light  of  life 
comes  dowered  beforehand  with  this  wealth  of 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


17 


■sorrow.  Not  one  escapes  his  lot  of  misery  and 
infamy.  Jesus  is  a  stranger  to  it,  it  is  true.  You 
will  not  recognise  Him  by  this  sign. 

But  is  this,  then,  the  sign  by  which  man  recog¬ 
nises  his  species  ?  Is  it  one  of  the  essentials, 
without  which  he  would  cease  to  be  what  his 
Creator  made  him?  Will  you  say,  that  the  more 
closely  a  man  follows  the  law  of  his  development, 
the  more  he  will  infallibly  develope  the  germ  of 
every  vice  ?  Will  you  say,  then,  that  the  more  a 
man  disgraces  and  degrades  himself,  the  more  he 
is  a  man  ?  Has  anyone  ever  said  that  physical 
deformity  was  one  of  the  signs  of  our  race,  and 
that  he  is  wanting  in  the  characteristics  of  man¬ 
hood,  who  is  neither  maimed  nor  lame  ?  And  do 
you  not  see  that  moral  deformities  remove  us  still 
further  from  our  original  state,  in  the  same  sense, 
but  far  more  than  physical  deformities  ?  Lan¬ 
guage  has  endorsed  this  fact,  my  brethren,  for  the 
indulgent  qualification,  which  it  applies  to  our 
passions  and  our  vices,  is  to  call  them  failings. 

II.  They  are,  indeed,  the  disgrace,  the  weak- 

c 


1 8 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


ness  of  the  soul.  But  the  human  mind,  thank 
God,  degraded  as  it  is,  has  features  by  which  it 
may  be  recognised,  besides  its  failings  and  infir- 

i 

mities.  If  the  mass  of  men  were  reduced  to  a 
crowd  of  invalids  in  a  hospital,  would  they  refuse 
to  acknowledge  as  a  brother  the  healthy  visitor 
who  came  to  dress  their  wounds  ?  No,  my  breth¬ 
ren  ;  if  Jesus  appears  to  be  exempt  from  the  ills 
that  afflict  us,  let  us  seek  a  better  sign  of  His 

fraternity  with  those  whom  He  came  to  seek  and 

♦ 

to  save.  It  is  on  our  good  side  that  He  resembles 
us.  I  will  show  you  this  sign,  my  brethren  (for 
we  have  not  fallen  so  low  as  not  to  apprehend  the 
legitimate  evidence  of  it) :  it  is  the  noble  and  holy 
liberty  of  a  soul,  which  knowing  no  other  law  than 
the  sovereign  and  righteous  will  of  God,  carries 
on  His  work  here  below  in  the  path  which  God 
has  marked  out  for  Him,  and  without  being 
subject  to  anyone,  by  a  natural  ascendancy,  He 
subjects  all  things  to  Himself. 

Independent  of  the  flesh,  He  subjugates  the 
lower  parts  of  His  nature,  never  suffering  them  to 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


19 


rule  Him.  Like  us  He  has  a  body  to  serve  Him, 
but  never  does  He,  like  us,  become  its  slave ;  He 
fatigues  Himself  to  the  point  of  suffering,  never 
to  that  of  discouragement.  He  loves  with  a 
tenderness  that  has  never  been  surpassed,  but 
which  never  gives  rise  in  the  transparent  atmos¬ 
phere  of  His  soul  to  the  most  imperceptible  shade 
of  sensuality. 

Independent  of  men,  He  rules  the  society  of 
His  fellow-men,  while  serving  them  with  the  most 
absolute  devotion.  He  is  the  best  citizen  among 
the  people,  without  ever  partaking  their  prejudices 
or  their  passions.  Of  all  masters  He  is  the 
gentlest  and  most  humble,  without  ever  allow¬ 
ing  Himself  to  be  restrained  in  His  course 
by  His  disciples — those  most  impressionable 
men. 

He  receives  the  most  enthusiastic  ovations, 
yet  not  a  hair  of  His  head  is  moved  by  the  breath 
of  popularity.  The  most  implacable  enemies 
conspire  against  Him,  without  occasioning  Him 
to  make  the  slightest  concession  to  them  through 


20 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


cowardice  or  fear,  even  when  the  tempest  raged 
most  violently. 

Independent  of  nature,  as  the  spirit  is  inde¬ 
pendent  of  matter,  He  rules  creation,  and  exerts 
an  empire  over  it,  which  excites  astonishment 
and  admiration,  and  which,  while  to  every  candid 
mind  it  manifests  the  intervention  of  the  invisible 
God,  is  no  less  an  evidence  of  the  regal  power 
conferred  on  man  in  the  beginning,  but  of  which 
he  lost  the  secret  in  his  fall. 

Simple  and  true,  humble  and  great,  without 
preparation  or  effort,  His  soul  filled  with  God, 
He  is  at  home  in  God’s  universe  like  a  child  in 
his  father’s  house.  Now,  fix  the  eye  of  your  mind 
on  God’s  thoughts  at  the  moment  when  He  said 
to  Himself:  “Let  us  make  man  in  our  own 
image;”  then  fix  it  on  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  defy 
you  to  repress  the  exclamation,  “  Behold  the  Man  I  ” 

I  have  told  you,  my  brethren,  that  I  will  speak 
to  you  in  the  second  place  to-day  of  the  plan  of 
the  Son  of  Man. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


21 


The  life  of  every  man  on  earth  answers  to  an 
internal  picture  which  the  mind  contemplates 
within  itself.  It  is  what  is  seen  within  that  de¬ 
termines  the  spectacle  that  is  presented  to  others. 
From  the  day  when  we  begin  to  be  conscious  of 
our  existence,  we  behold  within  ourselves  an 
image,  an  ideal  apparition  of  the  drama  of  the 
future.  At  first  it  is  but  a  faint  and  fugitive 

sketch,  but  it  attracts  us  more  and  more,  cap- 

/ 

tivates  us,  invites  us  to  complete  it,  until  all  our 
faculties  are  engaged  upon  it,  as  if  to  fix  upon  an 
invisible  canvass  this  first  sketch,  which  seems 
to  have  been  traced  by  some  invisible  hand  in 
order  to  evoke  our  activity. 

The  idea  changes,  the  design  becomes  com¬ 
plicated,  the  colours  change,  the  starting  point 
can  no  longer  be  recognised.  But  never  mind  ! 
during  every  moment  of  existence,  every  one  has 
something  or  other  which  he  contemplates  within 
him.  This  something  is  the  plan  of  his  life. 
We  draw  it  with  one  hand,  while  we  carry  it 
out  with  the  other. 


22 


THE  SON  OF  MAN, . 


If  you  wish  to  know  what  a  man  is,  ask  what 

he  contemplates  within  himself. 

* 

We  are  in  the  year  1782.  I  will  lead  you  to 
the  Military  School  at  Brienne,  and  show  you  a 
child  with  a  passion  for  study,  but  whose  one  idea 
is  to  apply  the  knowledge  which  he  acquires  from 
books  to  the  art  of  war.  The  games  to  which  he 
incites  his  comrades  and  in  which  he  excels,  are 
nothing  but  mock  sieges  and  battles. 

Let  us  observe  the  child. 

Twenty  years  later  he  is  a  man,  he  has  taken 

-  1  1 

Toulon,  has  gone  through  the  Italian  campaigns, 
and  conducted  the  expedition  to  Egypt.  In  the 
uniform  of  a  General,  with  a  pensive  and  dreamy 
air,  he  is  pacing  the  alleys  of  a  park  close  to  the 
gates  of  the  capital  of  France,  which  already 
belongs  to  him.  What  is  the  future  Emperor 
thinking  of?  Twenty  years  later,  dying  upon  a 
rock  in  the  ocean  after  long  years  of  captivity, 
the  same  man,  just  before  yielding  up  his  spirit, 
only  interrupts  the  lethargic  silence  into  which  he 
has  sunk  to  utter  the  words :  “  Tete  de  l’armee  !  ” 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


23 


What  is  the  illustrious  dying  man  thinking  of? 
If  you  could  see  the  series  of  pictures  which  have 
successively  engrossed  his  attention  unrolled  be¬ 
fore  your  eyes,  you  would  know  more  of  the  great 
Napoleon  than  from  all  the  detailed  recital  of  the 
wonders  of  his  history. 

Now,  my  brethren,  I  would  fain  know  what 
occupied  the  thoughts  of  the  Son  of  Man.  A 
trait  of  His  childhood  shows  Him  already  to  be 
under  the  influence  of  a  pre-occupation  which 
increased  and  became  exclusive  and  absorbing. 
His  parents  took  Him  to  Jerusalem;  He  was 
present  at  the  great  solemnity  of  the  Passover; 
He  saw  the  crowd  assembled  in  the  temple 
court ;  He  has  visited  the  city  which  killed  the 
prophets ;  He  has  listened  to  the  doctors  ;  He  be¬ 
came  lost  in  thought.  When  asked  the  reason 
of  a  stay  which  seemed  inexplicable,  He  replied: 
“Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father’s 
business  ?  ” 

Afterwards,  when  the  business  of  His  trade  took 
Him  back  to  Nazareth,  near  the  companions  of 


24 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


His  childhood,  in  order  to  unfold  to  them  the 
character  which  He  attributed  to  Himself,  He 
unrolled  in  their  midst  the  book  of  Isaiah,  and 
read  these  words  :  “  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God 
is  upon  me  ;  because  the  Lord  hath  appointed  me 
to  preach  good  tidings  unto  the  meek ;  he  hath 
sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to  pro¬ 
claim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of 
the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound  ;  to  proclaim; 
the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.”  * 

Many  times,  in  the  midst  of  the  crowds  as¬ 
sembled  to  listen  to  Him,  or  during  His  intimate 
intercourse  with  His  disciples.  He  spoke  words 
of  sublime  simplicity  and  of  unfathomable  depth,, 
which  betray,  so  to  speak,  the  deep  springs  within 
His  souk 

His  aim  was  to  found  the  Kingdom  of  God.  His. 
desire  is,  that  all  may  be  one  in  Him,  as  He  is  one 
with  the  Father.  “  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to* 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.”t  To 
what  interior  views,  to  what  perspectives  of  the. 

*  Isaiah  lxi.  i.  2.  f  Luke  xix.  10. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


2  S 


soul  do  these  utterances  respond  ?  What  is  it 
that  He  meditates  on  in  the  secret  sanctuaries  of 
thought? 

I  imagine  myself  present  during  one  of  the 
scenes  of  His  life.  I  stop  to  contemplate  Him 
as  He  sits  on  Jacob’s  Well,  waiting  for  His 
disciples,  who  had  gone  to  the  neighbouring 
town.  He  is  alone  and  pensive,  His  eyes  fixed 
on  the  fields  white  already  to  harvest. 

I  see  Him  surrounded  by  a  multitude,  who- 
bring  to  Him  their  sick,  their  afflicted,  their 
children  ;  He  is  silent ;  He  reads  the  expression 
of  the  various  countenances ;  but  His  heart  is 
touched,  His  breast  heaves,  and  His  disciples, 
depict  Him  as  moved  with  compassion. 

Arrived  at  the  end  of  His  earthly  career,  nailed 
upon  the  cross,  absorbed  in  solemn  thought  of 
His  work  which  is  drawing  to  a  close,  re¬ 
curring  to  the  past,  taking  possession  of  the 
future,  He  exclaims  :  “  It  is  finished  !  ”  What  is 
'it,  then,  at  these  moments,  and  at  various  others, 
which  you  can  add  for  yourselves  (for  no  other  life 


'26 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


presents  such  a  uniform  pre-occupation),  what 
is  it,  then,  that  He  is  meditating  upon  ? 

But  it  is  not  enough  to  enquire  into  His  life  in 
•order  to  understand  His  thoughts. 

After  all,  His  life  is  so  simple,  it  made  so  little 
noise,  it  throws  so  little  external  light,  that  it  is 
possible  to  overlook  the  unheard-of  proportions 
of  the  pre-occupation  which  filled  it.  We  have  not 
the  usual  modes  of  estimating  it.  The  men  who 
have  made  their  mark  in  history  are  known  by  the 
eloquence  of  their  discourses,  the  depth  of  their 
writings,  by  the  tumult  of  the  political  or  social 
agitations  which  they  led.  In  their  case  we  must 
see  the  picture  in  its  frame,  and  it  seldom  extends 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  contemporary  age.  But 
what  characterises  the  Son  of  Man,  on  the  con¬ 
trary,  is  that  His  simple  life  appears  to  be  the 
expression  of  an  idea  more  vast  and  more  pro¬ 
found  as  ages  roll  on,  and  as  the  human  race 
advances  in  the  path  of  its  destinies. 

What  wonders  there  are,  of  which  we  are 
constrained  to  say  to-day,  they  entered  into 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


2  7 


His  thoughts,  though  never  suspected  by  His 
contemporaries ;  and  what  wonders  there  doubt¬ 
less  are  which  we  do  not  yet  see,  but  of  which 
cur  descendants  will  say:  “  He  foresaw  this  also.” 
The  history  of  the  world  during  these  eighteen 
centuries  is  but  the  transcription,  scarcely  yet 
begun,  of  what  He  saw.  And  all  that  He  did 
foresee  will  not  be  made  manifest  until  the 
world’s  history  shall  have  passed  through  all  the 
stages  of  its  development. 

But  let  us  try  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  what  He 
saw,  although  we  cannot  see  it  wholly.  There 
are  in  the  soul  of  the  Son  of  Man  two  pictures, 
which  appear  to  me  to  have  been  both  habitually 
before  His  mind.  First,  the  view  of  human 
misery.  He  met,  as  we  meet,  with  pain  and 
suffering,  in  His  course  through  life  ;  but  while 
in  our  case  it  only  causes  a  temporary  distraction 
from  our  ordinary  thoughts,  it  was  so  impressed 
upon  Him,  that  nothing  could  efface  the  stamp 
of  it,  and  nothing  could  exceed  the  depth  and 
correctness  of  the  view  He  took  of  it.  At  every 


28 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


step,  He  was  touched  by  the  scenes  of  suffering, 
unfolded  before  Him  ;  but  within,  His  emotion: 
spread,  and  overstepped  the  limits  of  His  country,, 
to  embrace  sufferers  in  every  clime ;  it  over¬ 
stepped  the  limits  of  the  present,  to  embrace  all 
the  losses,  all  the  catastrophes,  all  the  desolations, 
of  the  future.  In  a  word,  He  leant  His  ear  to- 
the  universal  concert  of  distress  which  arises, 
without  interruption  from  the  surface  of  our 
globe,  and  not  only  so,  but  He  saw  the  tragic 
significance  and  the  untold  depths  of  it.  He  saw 
evil  not  only  in  the  infinite  variety  of  its  external 
manifestations,  but  in  the  sinister  fecundity  of  its. 
principle  ;  He  saw  in  sin  the  fatal  source  which 
affects  all  mankind,  and  pours  into  every  life  the 
double  poison  of  death  and  curse.  These  are 
abysses,  my  brethren,  which  it  makes  us  giddy  to 
look  down.  He  was  constantly  measuring  the 
extent  and  depth  of  them. 

But  there  was  another  picture  which  was  also- 
continually  before  His  eyes :  that  of  humanity 
raised  and  restored  to  perfection.  He  saw  within 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


29 


Himself  our  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  His  name 
hallowed,  His  kingdom  come,  His  will  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  He  saw  idols  every¬ 
where  deposed,  and  the  true  God  everywhere 
adored.  In  this  universal  worship,  He  saw  the 
principle  of  a  genuine  fraternity,  the  barriers 
between  nations  thrown  down,  the  chains  of  the 
slave  unloosed,  the  hostility  between  rich  and 
poor  abolished,  the  weapons  of  war  transformed 
into  implements  of  peace,  the  wolf  lying  down 
with  the  lamb. 

He  saw  peace  enter  into  all  hearts  with  pardon, 
and  with  pardon  a  joy  that  nothing  can  take 
away.  He  saw  God  as  all  in  all,  all  united 
in  God. 

A  sage  of  Greece  has  written  a  book,  in  which 
he  drew  the  plan  of  an  ideal  society,  such  as  he 
conceived  it  in  his  philanthropic  dreams.  You 
know  that  I  allude  to  the  Republic  of  Plato. 

Jesus  did  not  write  His  republic,  but  it  was 
traced  in  His  soul;  and  He  had  it  all  His  life 
before  His  eyes.  We  can  form  an  idea  of  it,  very 


30 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


imperfect,  no  doubt,  but  still  an  idea,  if  we. 
imagine  what  society  would  be,  constructed  on 
the  ideal  of  Gospel  perfection,  a  society  where  all 
were  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul,  and  where  these 
maxims  were  in  force :  “  Blessed  are  the  meek;”* 
“A  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you,  that  ye 
love  one  another,  as  I  have  loved  you  ;  ”+  “  God 
is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.”  J  We  call 
this  ideal ;  but  know  that  our  ideal  can  never  be 
anything  but  a  pale  reflection  of  the  realities  of 
the  future,  as  it  was  contemplated  by  Jesus  in 
the  recesses  of  His  soul. 

Humanity  sunk  into  the  abyss  of  evil  and 
misery ;  humanity  raised  up  to  bliss  and  glory — 
these  are  the  two  pictures  which  absorbed  Him 
in  contemplation. 

The  first,  the  view  of  what  is,  but  will  soon  no- 
longer  be  ;  the  second,  the  view  of  what  is  not 
yet,  but  which  is  preparing  for  us  in  the  future. 
A  supreme  and  total  change' is  about  to  be  ac- 
*  Matt.  v.  5.  f  John  xiii.  34.  X  John  iv.  24. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


31 


complished  in  the  destinies  of  the  human  race  ; 

\ 

after  darkness,  light ;  after  death,  life  ;  after  the 
bondage  of  Satan,  the  glorious  liberty  of  th& 
children  of  God. 

He  sees  it,  He  proclaims  it,  He  is  there  to 
preside  over  it.  It  is  His  work,  more  clear  before 
His  eyes  than  any  other  work  ever  was  to  any 
one  called  to  undertake  it. 

This  pre-occupied  Him  even  in  His  childhood. 
This  was  His  Father’s  business  which  claimed 
His  care.  This  was  the  kingdom  of  God  of 
which  He  proclaimed  the  advent.  These  are 
the  good  tidings  which  He  will  charge  His 
disciples  to  announce  to  the  world,  after  having 
been  Himself  in  turn  their  apostle  and  martyr. 
The  greatest  efforts  of  the  greatest  geniuses  and 
of  the  purest  minds  had  not,  before  He  came, 
attained  to  anything  more  than  to  lending  a  voice 
to  the  groans  of  man’s  conscience  ;  they  despaired 
of  relieving  them.  “  Unless  it  please  God  to  send 
us  some  one  from  Him  to  instruct  us,”  said 
Socrates  to  his  pupil  Alcibiades,  “  do  not  hope 


3  2 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


•ever  to  succeed  in  reforming  the  morals  of  men. 
The  best  course  we  can  take  is  to  wait  patiently.” 
“Yes,”  he  went  on,  “we  must  wait  till  some 
one  comes.” 

Jesus  takes  care  not  to  say  that  we  must  wait, 
He  asserts  that  the  thing  is  done  ;  He  asserts 
that  some  one  is  come,  and  that  it  is  He  Himself. 
This  is  what  He  cried  in  the  streets,  and  pro¬ 
claimed  upon  the  housetops. 

There  is  a  formidable  test,  my  brethren,  in 
store  for  anyone  who  announces  great  designs : 
that  of  answering  to  great  expectations.  Now, 
when  the  Son  of  Man  appeared  in  the  world,  He 
was  expected  ;  for,  low  as  humanity  had  sunk,  it 
never  in  its  darkest  hours  despaired  of  improve¬ 
ment.  It  was  always  looked  for,  and  it  is  one  of 
the  greatest  spectacles  of  history  to  watch  the 
dawn  of  this  great  hope,  vague  at  first,  but 
becoming  more  general  and  more  definite,  which 
was  spread  throughout  the  world,  of  seeing  some 
day  an  ambassador  from  God,  one  who  would  bring 
a  revelation,  a  what  shall  I  say?  one  sung  by  poets, 


JESC7S  OF  NAZARETH. 


33 


longed  for  by  sages,  and  baptized  beforehand  by 
the  touching  name  of  the  “Desire  of  all  nations.” 

Nothing  would  be  easier  than  to  accumulate 
testimony  to  this  fact.  The  traditions  of  all 
nations  agree  in  it,  and  in  the  writings  of  the 
philosophers  how  many  words  there  are  similar 
to  these  of  Socrates  just  quoted,  which  express 
the  highest  aspirations  of  the  ancient  heathen. 

But,  above  all,  you  know  the  oracles  of  the 
ancient  prophets  of  Israel,  so  numerous,  so  pre¬ 
cise,  so  universally  known  and  venerated.  They 
are  like  the  voice  which  sustains  the  melody  of 
this  vast  concert  of  nations,  while  the  aspirations 
of  the  Socrates,  the  Platos,  the  Virgils  and  the 
Ciceros,  the  dreams  of  all  the  mythologies,  and 
the  figurative  symbols  of  the  false  religions  are 
only  the  obscure  and  distant  accompaniment. 
“  All  the  east,”  says  the  Roman  historian  Sue¬ 
tonius,  “  was  full  of  the  report  of  this  ancient 
and  profound  opinion,  that  it  was  destined  that 
some  one  should  arise  in  Judea  about  this  time, 
who  would  rule  the  universe.” 


D 


34 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


It  was  a  solemn  moment  in  history,  unique  and 
without  precedent,  and  which  will  never  occur 
again.  Silence  reigns.  The  world  is  waiting. 
The  scene  is  prepared.  It  only  remains  for  some 
one  to  come  and  occupy  it. 

Who  will  venture  to  come  forward  ?  Let  him 
appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  enterprise.  Let 
him  listen  to  the  fluttering  expectation  of  every 
heart.  Let  him  ponder  well,  and  ponder  again 
and  again,  what  he  feels  within  him  that  can 
satisfy  it.  Who  will  venture  to  say,  Here  I  ami 
It  is  I?  The  temptation  was  great — ambition 
succumbed  to  it.  More  than  one  audacious  person 
appeared,  who  dared  to  say,  It  is  I.  Judas,  the 
Gaulonite,  Barchochebas,  Dositheus.  History 
has  preserved  their  names  as  the  most  illustrious 
examples  of  human  folly. 

If  in  this  assembly  there  is  any  scoffer,  who  for 
want  of  knowing  Jesus  Christ  has  not  yet  bowed 
the  knee  to  Him,  I  only  ask  one  thing  of  him, 
that  he  will  cast  his  eyes  on  the  form  of  the  Son 
of  Man,  presenting  Himself  with  His  halo  of 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


35 


sublimity  in  answer  to  the  universal  expectation. 
That  from  this  distance  of  time,  he  will  consider 
the  picture  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Master  as  He 
appeared  upon  the  threshold  of  history,  in  the 
midst  of  humanity,  then  agitated  with  unusual 
grief,  and  announcing  with  that  calm  authority 
which  is  peculiar  to  Him,  Here  I  am  !  It  is  I  ! 
Do  not  look  for  another.  I  have  given  ear  to 
the  voices  which  were  calling  me.  I  have 
probed  your  wounds,  and  am  come  to  heal  them. 
I  am  come  to  make  all  things  new,  and  in 
proclaiming  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord  to 
bring  life  and  immortality  to  light. 

My  brethren,  centuries  have  passed ;  twenty 
times  already  the  date  of  the  world  has  been 
renewed  since  the  manifestation  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  time,  which  brings  down  and  buries 
one  after  another  the  great  ones  of  the  earth,  has 
been  for  Him  a  pedestal,  the  base  and  height  of 
which  have  been  ever  increasing.  Now,  consider 
what  a  prodigy  it  was  to  base  His  idea  upon  time, 
and  consider  the  clearness,  the  wisdom,  the  con- 


D  2 


36 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


fidence  in  Himself  which  are  pre-supposed  when 
He  said  to  Himself  before  saying  it  to  the  world  : 
I  am  the  Redeemer! 

Every  plan  implies  the  adoption  of  a  system  of 
means  to  insure  its  realisation,  and  when  an 
enterprise  is  presented  to  us  like  that  of  the  Son 
of  Man,  we  have  a  right  to  ask  what  are  His 
resources,  and  how  will  He  set  about  His  task  ? 
He  had  but  one  resource,  my  brethren,  and  if 
you  have  a  right  to  be  amazed  at  the  audacity 
of  the  end,  you  may  well  be  much  more  amazed 
at  the  audacity  of  the  means.  For  the  means 
were  Himself.  “  I  am  the  way,”  He  said,  “  I  am 
the  way,  I  am  the  means.”  And  it  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  His  entire  life  was  consequent  on 
this  strange  pretension.  Every  one  here  below 
pursues  a  method  of  his  own.  Learned  men 
dogmatise,  conquerors  fight  battles,  politicians 
build  up  constitutions.  Consider  what  He  did. 
He  manifested  Himself.  I  have  spoken  of  His 
method.  He  has  no  method  but  that  which  light 
has  :  to  enlighten  by  shining.  If  He  speaks,  it  is 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


37 


to  unfold  the  wonders  of  His  soul;  if  He  is 
prodigal  of  benefits,  it  is  to  teach  the  world  His 
infinite  goodness ;  if  He  suffers,  it  is  to  show  His 
meekness  ;  if  He  gives  His  life,  it  is  to  show  His 
devotion;  if  He  takes  it  again,  it  is  to  manifest  His 
power.  He  arose  above  the  horizon  of  humanity; 
a  man  amongst  men,  He  displayed  Himself 
majestically  at  His  entrance  into  life,  pursued 
His  course  in  a  straight  line  to  the  summit,  and 
arrived  at  the  zenith,  at  the  point  where  there 
are  no  more  clouds,  and  whence  His  rays  fell 
perpendicularly  ;  He  declared  His  work  accom¬ 
plished,  and  was  able  to  say:  “It  is  finished.”  It 
was  not  the  mission  of  His  disciples  after  Him  to 
found  empires  or  republics  in  His  name,  nor  to 
construct  a  new  system  of  things  according  to 
His  ideal,  nor  to  publish  to  the  world  any  secret 
doctrine,  but  simply  to  bear  witness  for  Him. 
Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me,  unto  the  utter¬ 
most  parts  of  the  earth ;  *  and  lor  this  He 
promised  them  no  other  aid  than  His  own 


*  Acts  i.  8. 


38 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


spiritual  presence  within  them.  “  I  will  not  leave 
you  comfortless. ”  *  “  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 

unto  the  end  of  the  world.”  t  They  preached, 
but  what  was  their  doctrine  ?  “I  determined 
not  to  know  anything  among  you,”  wrote  St.  Paul 
to  the  Corinthians,  “save  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified.”^  And  to  the  Galatians :  “  Before 
whose  eyes  Christ  hath  been  evidently  set  forth, 
crucified  among  you”§  And  St.  John:  That 
which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes  and  heard 
with  our  ears  and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the 
word  of  life,  that  declare  we  unto  you.  || 

They  wrote  books,  but  what  books  ?  The 
simple  narrative  of  their  intercourse  with  Him 
during  the  days  of  His  flesh,  or  the  enthusiastic 
expression  of  their  spiritual  intercourse  with  Him 
when  they  had  ceased  to  know  Him  after  the  flesh. 
They  founded  an  institution,  but  what  kind  of  an 
institution  ?  The  Church,  which  they  call  the 
body  of  Christ,  animated  by  His  spirit,  the  vivid 

*  John  xiv.  1 8.  f  Matt,  xxviii.  20.  J  1  Cor.  ii.  2. 

§  Gal.  iii.  1.  ||  1  John  i.  1,  3. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


39 


% 

reproduction  of  Christ,  in  order  to  continue  His 

work  by  making  Him  known  to  the  ends  of  the 

» 

earth,  and  to  the  end  of  time. 

Do  not  exclaim  against  it  as  a  paradox,  my 
brethren,  the  Son  of  Man  has  instituted  no  other 
means  of  salvation  than  Himself.  That  there  is 
much  that  is  astonishing  in  it  I  am  quite  willing 
to  agree ;  but  it  is  a  fact,  nevertheless,  which  we 
must  prove.  With  this  end  in  view,  I  will  recall 
some  of  the  needs  to  which  He  responded,  and 
bring  before  your  view  some  of  the  promises 
which  He  has  made  to  us. 

In  the  first  place,  there  are  promises  for  minds 
that  have  gone  astray  in  seeking  after  truth.  O, 
how  He  anticipates  with  tender  and  sympathetic 
compassion  the  wants  of  those  noble  seekers  after 
truth,  whose  gaze,  like  the  eagle’s,  tries  to 
penetrate  the  clouds  in  order  to  gaze  on  the  sun  ! 
How  He  calls  them  around  Him  in  order  to 
satisfy  them !  Come,  then,  you  who  have  devoted 
your  lives  to  the  sacred  labours  of  thought.  Here 
is  a  Doctor  who  will  teach  you  what  you  want 


40 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


to  know.  He  is  come,  He  says,  to  bear  witness, 
to  the  truth.  But  assuredly  you  have  not  listened 
to  any  doctor  like  Him  before. 

He  has  no  school  like  your  philosophers :  His 
school  is  the  highway,  the  public  streets,  the 
dwellings  of  the  poor,  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  the 
shores  of  the  lake,  the  slopes  of  the  mountains,, 
the  earth  itself  beneath  the  vault  of  heaven — the 
world,  in  fact.  He  has  no  system  like  those  who 
have  before  professed  to  guide  you.  What  He 
offers  you  will  not  have  been  arrived  at  by  con¬ 
tinuing  the  labours  of  those  who  have  gone 
before,  by  building  up  His  lucubrations  upon 
theirs.  He  will  offer  truth  to  you  which  flows 
from  the  very  source  of  truth,  and  which  sheds 
its  light  alike  on  minds  of  the  most  common 
order  and  of  the  highest  genius,  a  truth  which 
less  instructs  as  a  science  than  clothes  as  a 
character,  but  which  is  no  less  the  truth,  the  sole, 
central,  sovereign  truth,  the  truth  which  sages, 
have  searched  for  in  vain,  and  which  without 
Him  would  never  have  reached  the  heart  of  man. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH . 


4i 

To  Him  who  possesses  it,  all  things  are  made 
new,  the  darkness  is  past,  the  problem  of  our 

destiny  is  solved,  and  light  and  immortality  are 

% 

brought  to  light ;  the  face  of  God  is  revealed  in 
all  its  glory,  and  the  soul  has  but  to  plunge  and 
replunge  eternally  in  the  inexhaustible  spring  of 
all  wisdom  and  knowledge.  “  Ye  shall  know  the 
truth,”  He  said,  “and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free.”*  But  what,  then,  is  the  meaning  of  this 
almost  mysterious  promise  ? 

Permit,  O  Master,  that  once  more  at  least,  we 
ask  Thee  with  all  sincere  and  honest  souls  :  What 
is  truth  ?  Listen,  I  am  the  truth  !  Is  not  this 
the  answer  ? 

The  Son  of  Man  has  promises  for  broken  hearts. 
Need  it  be  said  that  He  has  the  most  tender  com¬ 
passion  for  all  sufferers.  Behold  how  Pie  loves 
them.  But  what  distinguishes  Him  from  others 
is,  that  He  is  far  from  expressing  His  sympathy 
with  that  tone  of  patient  resignation  which  cha¬ 
racterises  the  helpless  pity  of  even  the  best  of 

*  John  viii.  32. 


42 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


men.  On  the  contrary,  He  presents  Himself 
with  a  serene  and  indestructible  confidence  in 
the  sovereign  and  universal  efficacy  of  His 
remedies. 

“  Come  unto  me,”  He  cried  in  the  highways 
and  public  streets,  “  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.”  Come, 
then,  all  ye  innumerable  people  who  are  afflicted 
of  the  Lord ;  come  hither  ye  poor,  sick,  orphans, 
inconsolable  widows ;  you  with  blighted  lives ; 
you  who  have  been  deceived,  perhaps  exasperated, 
to  whom  earth  has  offered  nothing  but  dust  to 
quench  the  thirst  which  devours  you.  Here  is 
One  who  at  least  will  not  deceive  you.  Your 
bruised  heart,  shuddering  within  you  at  the  blast 
of  trial,  like  the  leaf  blown  about  by  the  tempest, 
“  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,”  you  shall  have 
peace,  a  peace  which  the  world  cannot  give,  a 
peace  which  will  surpass  your  comprehension. 
As  far  as  you  extend  your  gaze  towards  the 
horizon,  you  will  only  discover  an  ocean  of  grief, 
the  pitiless  waves  of  which  beat  against  and  sub- 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


43 


merge  you  without  ceasing.  There  you  will  be 
immersed  in  perfect  joy,  which  nothing  henceforth 
can  take  away.  Your  griefs  themselves  shall  be 
turned  into  joy,  your  cries  of  despair  into  songs  of 
gladness.  Convinced  to  despair  of  the  inexorable 
nature  of  the  sorrows  which  afflict  you,  you  have 
stopped  your  ears  and  have  cried  out:  Woe  to 
those  that  mourn,  for  there  is  certainly  no  conso¬ 
lation.  He  said :  “  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn  !  ” 
Blessed  !  for  there  is  consolation  ;  and  consolation 
so  great  that  the  most  perfect  earthly  happiness 
is  not  to  be  compared  to  the  most  bitter  grief,  if 
it  has  the  effect  of  procuring  it  for  you. 

Only  accept  from  the  hands  of  this  new  Phy¬ 
sician,  the  balm  which  He  offers  for  your  wounds, 
and  you  will  no  longer  have  anything  to  wish  for, 
nothing  to  ask  of  any  one,  you  will  have  neither 
regrets  for  the  past,  deception  in  the  present,  nor 
anxiety  for  the  future,  no  more  sighs  nor  scalding 
tears,  you  will  have  done  with  all  these  things  ; 
supreme  happiness,  heaven  itself  will  fill  your 
heart.  You  will  be  at  the  source  of  inexhaustible 


44 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


satisfaction,  and  will  have  nothing  to  do  but  to- 
take  long  draughts  from  it  both  in  time  and 
eternity.  But  what  then,  0  Master,  is  Thy  in¬ 
fallible  remedy  ?  Listen  !  I  am  the  spring  which 
rises  in  life  eternal.  “  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him 
come  unto  me,  and  drink !  “  He  that  drinketh 

of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him,  shall  never 
thirst. ”+  Is  not  this  His  answer  ? 

But  there  is  something  yet  more  astonishing. 
The  Son  of  Man  has  a  remedy  for  burdened  con¬ 
sciences,  and  do  you  not  see  that  it  is  in  these 
cases  that  we  behold  His  most  tender  compassion? 

Listen,  then,  ye  sinners,  and  men  of  evil  lives ; 
ye  who  bear  the  load  of  crime  and  shame,  dregs  of 
our  race,  crowds  of  degraded  people,  to  whom  the 
society  of  your  equals  offers  no  alternative  but  the 
mire  and  despair. 

Listen  attentively,  for  here  at  last  is  One  who* 
will  not  fear  to  soil  His  hands  by  contact  with 
yours.  He  says  that  He  came  not  for  the 
righteous  but  for  sinners.  He  came  to  seek  and 
*  John  vii.  37.  f  John  iv.  14. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


45 


to  save  that  which  was  lost !  Lost !  You  hear 
what  He  says,  and  in  His  mouth,  the  word 
signifies  lost  women,  lost  malefactors,  lost  in  the 
dens  of  vice,  and  on  the  verge  of  execution.  He 
is  come  to  seek  you,  but  what  has  He  to  offer 
you  ?  He  has  the  means  of  absolutely  effacing 
your  lives,  repulsive  as  they  perhaps  have  been. 
He  has  for  your  degraded  profaned  souls,  a  vir¬ 
ginity  more  pure  than  that  of  the  new-born  babe. 
For  your  livery  of  infamy,  He  will  give  you  a  robe 
of  righteousness,  compared  with  which"  the  stars 
are  not  pure ;  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet  and 
your  conscience  black  as  hell,  He  will  render  all 
within  you  as  white  as  snow,  and  as  pure  as  the 
heavens. 

These  at  least  are  His  promises,  and  you  know 
that  I  do  not  exaggerate  them.  Indeed  they  go 
much  further  still,  for  He  declares  that  the  same 
regeneration  is  necessary  for  the  most  honest  and 
honoured  among  men  as  for  the  reprobate.  You 
may  well  be  astonished,  but  it  is  not  I  that  speak, 
it  is  He. 


46 


THE  SON  OF  MAN . 


Such  are  the  offers  that  He  makes  to  the 
worst,  that  they  may  well  be  the  envy  of  the 
best. 

Such  is  the  beauty  of  this  new  righteousness, 
with  which  He  clothes  the  wretched,  that  all 
other  righteousness  must  appear  like  filthy  rags 
which  make  him  who  wears  them  blush.  Come, 
then,  the  most  eminent  among  the  people,  the 
righteous,  the  refined,  who  are  trying,  but  without 
success,  to  rear  the  tottering  edifice  of  your 
assurance  before  God.  He  invites  you  to  pull 
down  all  this  scaffolding,  that  you  may  rely  upon 
the  assurances  which  He  Himself  gives  liberally 
to  all.  No  more  illusions,  no  more  pretensions,, 
no  more  false  semblances  of  innocence.  Let  all 
masks  be  torn  off,  and  the  garments  be  removed 
that  the  wounds  may  be  seen,  and  your  hearts 
laid  bare.  You,  too,  are  lost :  do  you  not  feel  it  to. 
be  so  ?  You  cannot  stand  before  the  eye  of  God. 
But  you  also  will  be  saved.  But  what  then  is 
this  new  secret,  O  Master,  by  which  Thou  wilt 
resuscitate  those  who  are  dead  and  dying  of  sin  ? 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


47 


Listen!  “  I  am  the  way.”  “  He  that  hath  the 
Son  hath  eternal  life.” 

“  I  am  the  way  !  I  am  peace  !  I  am  the  truth  L 
I  am  the  way !  ”  But  who  is  it  then  who  thus, 
speaks,  and  what  place  does  He  assume  amongst 
us  ? 

There  is  but  one  sun  in  the  natural  world  which 
can  say,  It  is  I  who  diffuse  light  and  warmth ;  it 
is  I  who  make  day  after  night,  and  spring  after 
winter.  Look  at  me  all  ye  creatures,  look  and  ye 
shall  live.  Is  there  not  then  also  a  sun  in  the 
spiritual  world;  and  is  not  His  name  Jesus? 

My  brethren,  we  must  know  what  we  are  to 
believe.  We  will  closely  question  Him  who  comes 
to  us  with  enormous  and  exhorbitant  pretensions. 
It  was  His  will  to  manifest  Himself  to  the  world. 
We  will  pause  before  this  manifestation;  we  will 
look  at  it  from  all  sides.  This  is  but  fair.  We 
will  question  Him  as  to  His  rights,  I  promise  you. 
Inasmuch  as  we  are  men,  we  have  conditions  to 
propose  to  this  Man  before  according  Him  the 
homage  to  which  He  lays  claim.  There  are  three 


43 


THE  SON  OF  MAN . 


of  them.  First,  we  must  watch  Him  face  to  face 
with  sin,  then  with  suffering,  then  with  death;  for 
from  His  attitude  before  this  triple  abyss  into 
which  we  have  all  fallen,  our  attitude  in  His 
presence  depends.  It  is  not  we  who  have  pushed 
the  question  to  this  extreme ;  it  is  He  Himself,  as 
you  have  heard.  Such  is  the  way  in  which  He 
presents  Himself  to  the  world,  that  either  He 
must  fall  into  the  dust,  or  we  must  fall  into  the 
dust  at  His  feet.  He  is  everything  or  nothing. 
He  is  but  what  you  are,  my  brethren,  what  I  am, 
less  indeed,  unless  to  Him  belongs  the  kingdom, 
the  power,  and  the  glory  ! 

It  is  clear  that  I  have  no  right  to  anticipate 
to-day,  a  conclusion  which  involves  a  long  and 
conscientious  study  on  your  part  and  mine  before 
it  can  be  established.  Nevertheless,  there  is  an 
order  of  consideration  which  I  have  intentionally 
excluded  from  our  subject,  but  from  which,  I  may, 
perhaps,  be  permitted  to  borrow  something  in  con¬ 
cluding  this  first  discourse.  I  propose  to  speak 
of  experience.  Whatever  be  the  legitimate  right  of 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


49 


the  Son  of  Man  to  our  entire  confidence,  or  to  use 
the  language  of  the  Gospel,  to  our  faith,  the  fact 
remains  that,  during  eighteen  centuries,  faith  in 
Him  has  accomplished  marvels.  Our  memories 
are  full  of  them.  I  will  cite  one  or  two  examples. 

A  pastor,  whose  name  I  could  mention,  related 
one  day  in  my  presence  the  following  fact: — “A 
few  years  ago  a  woman  died  in  my  parish,  whose 
history  I  had  followed  from  her  youth.  She  had 
known  happy,  even  brilliant  days.  But  trials 
gradually  came  and  crushed  her.  From  a  posi¬ 
tion  of  ease  she  was  reduced  to  destitution,  so  far 

i 

as  to  be  dependent  on  charity — so  cruel  a  trial  to 
sensitive  minds.  She  had  not  at  once  been  robbed 
of  all  the  objects  of  her  affection,  but  one  by  one, 

all  those  who  had  solaced  her  sufferings  and  con- 

» 

duced  to  her  happiness,  died.  Alone  and  deso¬ 
late,  as  a  climax  to  her  troubles,  she  was  attacked 
b}'  one  of  the  most  cruel  maladies  which  afflict 
humanity :  for  months  she  languished  upon  a 
bed  of  torture,  with  nothing  to  look  forward  to 
but  a  gradual  aggravation  of  her  sufferings,  pre- 


E 


5° 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


vious  to  a  painful  and  inevitable  death.  One  day, 
on  entering  her  miserable  abode,  my  heart  pained 
beforehand  at  the  idea  of  so  much  suffering  con¬ 
centrated  in  one  person,  I  found  her  in  tears, 
which  she  in  vain  endeavoured  to  hide.  Thinking 
that  some  new  trouble  had  arisen — 4  My  poor 
friend,’  I  said,  taking  her  hand,  4  what  has  hap¬ 
pened?’  4 Oh  sir!’  she  answered,  smiling  at  my 
mistake,  4  it  was  for  joy  I  was  weeping,  not  for 
grief,  for  as  you  came  in  I  was  thinking  of  my 
Saviour.’  And  this  joy  never  forsook  her  to  the 
hour  of  her  terrible,  but  tranquil  departure. 
Now  I  can  attest,”  added  my  friend  44  upon  my 
conscience,  that  of  all  the  miserable  beings  that 
I  have  met  with  during  the  forty  years  of  my 
ministry,  this  woman  was  the  most  unfortunate.” 
Perhaps  this  incident  has  one  defect  which  may 
prevent  it  from  striking  you :  that  it  is  too 
common,  for  there  is  scarcely  a  minister,  be  he 
ever  so  young,  who  could  not  relate  similar  cases 
from  his  own  experience.  Is  there  one  Christian, 
is  there  one  man  amongst  you  who  could  not  say 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


5i 


from  his  own  experience,  I  have  known  such 
persons  loaded  with  misfortune  and  yet  weeping 
or  joy. 

Here  is  the  other  case  which  I  have  promised 
you.  In  1662,  near  Paris,  the  life  of  one  of  the 
greatest  geniuses  which  have  adorned  our  race  was 
brought  to  a  close.  He  was  well  acquainted  with 
all  the  seductions  of  science,  and  all  the  intoxica¬ 
tion  of  early  fame,  but  also  with  the  torments  of 
thought  and  the  agonies  of  doubt.  In  the  flower 
of  his  age,  at  thirty-nine,  just  when  his  splendid 
faculties  were  fully  developed,  he  died  like  a  saint. 
There  was  found  amongst  the  treasures  which  have 
given  him  the  first  rank  amongst  the  most  eminent 
men,  a  paper,  entitled  “Confession.”  It  expresses, 
in  language  sublime  in  its  candour  and  simplicity, 
a  perfectly  contented  state  of  mind,  breathing 
nothing  but  peace  and  love — heaven  itself ;  and  it 
concludes  with  these  words:  “These  are  my 
sentiments,  and  every  day  I  bless  my  Redeemer 
who  inspired  me  with  them,  and  who  has  made 
a  man,  full  of  weakness,  misery,  concupiscence, 


52 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


pride  and  ambition,  exempt  from  all  these  evils, 
by  the  power  of  His  grace.  To  Him  all  the  glory 
is  due,  for  of  myself  I  have  nothing  but  misery 
and  error.”  If  there  were  any  need  to  seek  for 
the  explanation  of  this,  it  would  be  found  in 
another  paper,  which  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
religiously  carrying  about  with  him,  in  memory  of 
a  memorable  night,  during  which,  in  his  opinion, 
the  eternal  fate  of  his  soul  was  decided.  These 
are  the  last  words  traced  in  letters  of  fire:  “Jesus 
Christ  !  Jesus  Christ — I  have  separated  myself 
from  Him,  I  have  fled  from  Him,  renounced  Him, 
crucified  Him — may  I  never  again  be  separated 
from  Him!  Entire  and  sweet  renunciation!” 
Only  one  thing  is  wanting  to  make  this  instance 
as  common  as  the  other :  that  there  should  be 
a  larger  number  of  men  comparable  to  Blaise 
Pascal. 

Such,  however,  is  Jesus  Christ.  Traverse  with 
Him  the  heights  and  depths  of  humanity.  Follow 
Him  into  the  lowliest  places  of  the  earth,  and  you 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


S3 


will  see  the  lowest,  the  most  wretched  of  men 
arise  in  turn  from  the  dust  or  the  pallet  to  utter 
songs,  and  shed  tears  of  joy  at  His  approach. 
And  if  thence,  still  in  company  with  Him,  you 
ascend  the  most  lofty  mountains,  you  will  hear 
genius  stammer  forth  before  Him,  words  of  humble 
gratitude  and  entire  reconciliation.  I  may  there¬ 
fore  say  to  you  henceforth,  without  fear  of  mis¬ 
leading  you — Go  to  Him  !  Amen. 


II. 


Cfre  J£)olp  HDne  ano  tfre  3ust. 


“The  Holy  One  and  the  Just.” — Acts  iii.  14. 

OST  and  sinful  man  has  a  right  to  enquire 


-I — ^  into  the  moral  worth  of  Him  who  comes  to 
seek  and  to  save  him.  This  is  our  subject  to-day. 

Everything  is  so  closely  blended  in  the  august 
person  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  so  rapidly  does 
He  radiate  light,  that  I  might  already  refer  you 
to  our  first  discourse.  I  have  only,  as  yet,  in¬ 
troduced  Him,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  speak 
of  Him  without  inundating  you  with  light. 

In  trying  to  present  to  you  the  striking 
humanity  of  His  person,  I  have  been  constrained 
to  bring  forward  the  most  pure  and  noble  traits 


THE  HOT  Y  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


55 


of  humanity  itself.  (Are  not  the  most  pure  and 
noble  traits  always  the  most  human  ?) 

In  giving  you  a  glimpse  of  the  inmost  thought 
with  which  He  presented  Himself  to  the  world, 
and  of  the  plan  which  He  came  to  realise,  I  have 
been  constrained  to  direct  your  attention  to  a 
mind,  the  sublimity  of  whose  views  naturally 
implies  the  sublimity  of  the  mind  itself.  If  grand 
ideas  come  from  the  heart,  and  if  a  great  design 
can  only  originate  in  a  great  heart,  the  most  holy 
and  vast  of  all  designs  could  only  have  originated 
in  an  extraordinarily  noble  and  holy  heart. 

The  idea  of  proposing  Himself  to  the  human 
race  as  an  object  of  faith,  that  is  to  say  of  love, 
admiration,  and  adoration,  supposes  a  conscious¬ 
ness  of  such  pre-eminence,  or  the  alternative  of 
such  absurdity,  that  one  is  constrained  to  re¬ 
cognise  in  Him  who  propounds  it,  a  presumption 
at  least  in  favour  of  His  right  to  the  adoration 

and  faith  of  the  human  race.  This,  however,  I 

» 

freely  acknowledge,  requires  demonstration. 

The  pretensions  of  the  Son  of  Man  are  too 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


56 

great  to  be  sustained  of  themselves  in  this  way,, 
and  the  conscience  to  which  they  are  seriously 
presented  can  only  admit  them  on  one  imperious, 
condition :  that  of  finding  the  ideal  of  perfection 
realised  in  Him  in  all  its  fulness.  If  a  single 
individual  of  those  whom  He  professes  to  save 

t 

could  cause  Him  to  cast  His  eyes  to  the  ground 
by  looking  Him  in  the  face  ;  if  a  single  individual 
of  those  to  whom  He  says,  “  Come  unto  me,, 
and  ye  shall  have  life,”  could  reply  to  Him:  “  I 
am  better  and  greater  than  thou,” — if  such  a 
thing  were  possible,  we  agree  that  nothing  more 
would  be  required  to  annihilate  Him,  and  to 
expose  the  whole  enterprise  to  derision.  We 
have  seen  the  golden  head  of  the  statue :  let 
us  assure  ourselves  that  the  feet  are  not  of  clay. 

I  begin  by  calling  attention  to  one  point — that 
we  are  in  the  presence  of  a  well-attested  fact. 

When  we  put  the  question  respecting  the  moraL 
worth  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  have  at  once  to  face 

^  VI 

M  % 

a  whole  hierarchy  of  witnesses,  who,  without 
hesitation,  unite  in  ascribing  absolute  perfection 


I 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


57 


to  Him.  The  first  of  these  witnesses  is  Himself. 
Every  one  has  a  certain  impression  of  his  own 
character,  and  the  further  advanced  a  man  is  in 
the  path  of  holiness,  the  more  you  will  generally 
find  him  disposed  to  condemn  himself,  because  as 
he  trains  himself  his  conscience  becomes  more 
enlightened,  and  discovers  fresh  abysses  which 
separate  him  from  the  end  in  view.  “  I  do  not 
know  what  the  heart  of  a  villain  may  be,”  said  the 
Count  de  Maistre,  “  I  only  know  that  of  a  virtuous 
man,  and  that  is  frightful !  ”  St.  Paul  goes  still 
further  in  describing  himself  as  the  chief  of  sinners, 
given  up  to  sin,  one  in  whom  dwelleth  no  good 
thing.  And  to  speak  generally  of  this  estimate,  St. 
John  declares  that  if  any  man  say  that  he  has  no 
sin,  he  deceiveth  himself,  he  is  the  dupe  of  an  illusion. 

The  fact,  nevertheless,  is,  that  Jesus,  the  most 
humble  and  clear-sighted  of  men,  did  assume 
perfection.  Not  only  did  He  utter  such  words 
as  these  :  “  The  prince  of  this  world  hath  nothing 
in  me  ;  ”*  “  The  Father  hath  not  left  me  alone  ; 

*  John  xiv.  30. 


58 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


for  I  do  always  those  things  which  please  him  ;  ”* 
“  And  now,  0  Father,  glorify  thou  me  ;  I  have 
finished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do  ;  ”  t 
but  never,  during  the  whole  of  His  life,  can  you 
surprise  Him  in  a  moment  of  doubt  or  hesitation 
about  His  moral  sovereignty. 

He  presented  to  His  disciples  the  duty  of 
perfection  with  the  majesty  of  law  itself.  He 
said  quite  naturally :  “  Light  is  come  into  the 
world;  ”  “  I  am  the  light  of  the  world  ;  ”  “  And 
hath  given  him  authority  to  execute  judgment 
also,  because  He  is  the  Son  of  Man.”J; 

He  who  began  His  ministry  by  crying  out, 
“  Repent  and  be  converted,”  who  thirsted  for  the 
repentance  of  the  whole  world,  and  assumed  that 
all  consciences  are  sinful  before  God,  never  had 
the  least  suspicion  that  He  could  stand  in  the 
slightest  need  of  repentance  Himself.  He  bore 
within  Him  a  virgin  conscience,  glorious,  immacu¬ 
late.  He  was  radiant  with  inward  peace,  and 
the  sound  of  His  footsteps,  the  tones  of  His  voice, 
#  John  viii.  29.  f  John  xvii.  4.  X  John  v.  27. 


THE  HOL  Y  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


59 


the  mute  language  of  His  aspect,  seemed  to 
murmur  incessantly  this  refrain :  Holy,  harm¬ 
less,  separate  from  sinners,  made  higher  than  the 
heavens.*  Add  to  this  the  impression  produced 
upon  those  around  Him  by  His  majestic  appear¬ 
ance.  The  evidence  of  this  has  been  preserved 
for  us.  I  do  not  speak  only  of  the  crowds  of 
people  whom  He  subjugated,  and  kept  enchained 
by  an  unexampled  ascendancy,  of  their  simple 
admiration,  or  of  that  boundless  trust  in  Him 
which  attached  the  weight  of  truth  itself  to  the 
words  which  fell  from  His  lips.  If  we  could  have 
sat  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  or  on 
the  slopes  of  the  hills  around  the  valley,  while 
He  opened  to  the  multitude  the  treasures  of  His 
mind,  we  should  not  have  escaped  the  enthusiasm 
which  made  even  the  most  prejudiced  exclaim : 
“  Never  man  spake  like  this  man.”  But  we  all 
know  that  it  is  not  much  to  see  the  attitude  of  a 
man  in  public  when  all  eyes  are  upon  him,  and 
perhaps  the  natural  thought  would  have  occurred 


*  Hebrews  vii.  26. 


6o 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 


to  us,  that  in  order  to  know  Him  thoroughly  we 
must  follow  Him  into  private  life.  We  know  by 
experience  that  no  man  is  a  hero  to  his  valetr 
and  still  less,  alas  !  is  any  man  a  perfect  saint  ta 
those  who  share  the  hazards  of  his  private  life. 
Now,  my  brethren,  we  have  the  evidence  of  men 
who  were  nearer  to  Him  than  a  servant  to  his 
master,  a  child  to  his  father,  a  traveller  to  his 
companion.  These  men  were  His  disciples.  It 
appears  as  if  it  had  been  their  providential  mission 
to  study  Him  thoroughly,  to  bring  His  soul  to  the 
light  of  day  in  the  most  varied  situations,  the 
most  solemn  as  well  as  the  most  common.  They 
heard  what  He  said  in  confidence  as  well  as  in 
His  public  discourses ;  His  most  familiar  sayings 
as  well  as  His  most  solemn  declarations.  They 
were  with  Him,  their  eyes  were  upon  Him  before 
He  went  out  in  the  morning,  when  He  returned 
in  the  evening,  even  during  the  hours  of  rest. 
Nothing  in  His  life,  absolutely  nothing,  could 
escape  them.  Now,  the  more  closely  we  see  them 
brought  into  contact  with  Him,  the  more  do  they 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


61 


appear  to  be  prostrated  before  Him  with  an 
admiration  which  has  no  parallel  in  the  world. 
The  perfection  of  their  Master  struck  them  with 
an  instantaneous  and  ever-increasing  persuasion. 
■The  brightness  of  the  sun  was  not  more  evident 
to  their  eyes.  They  were  at  His  feet,  and  drew 
the  world  after  them.  We  have  but  the  reflection 
of  the  effect  it  produced  on  them,  and  yet  that 
reflection  subjugates  us.  And  it  is  not,  as  you 
know,  that  they  launch  out  into  exclamations  of 
enthusiasm,  it  is  not  that  they  endeavour  by  any 
ingenious  art  to  make  the  conclusions  apparent, 
at  which  they  have  themselves  arrived  respecting 
their  Master.  So  far  from  it,  they  would  think  it 
derogatory  even  to  appear  to  praise  Him,  whom 
they  call  the  Lord.  They  content  themselves 
with  saying,  this  is  what  we  have  seen  and  heard. 
They  narrate  the  life  of  the  most  extraordinary 
personage  as  stories  are  written  for  children. 
Their  pens  appear  to  have  been  dipped  in  that 
gentle  light  which  shone  around  them.  Their 
conviction  is  so  entire,  so  absolute,  that  it 


62 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


becomes  as  it  were  transparent,  and  only  com¬ 
municates  itself  by  the  character  of  the  evidence 
which  it  communicates  to  its  object.  The  more 
one  thinks  of  it,  the  more  one  is  struck  by  the 
immense  value  of  such  testimony. 

I  am  not  likely  to  forget,  that  if  the  Son  of 
Man  had  disciples  He  also  had  adversaries. 

Does  this  surprise  you  ?  Do  you  not  suppose 
that  holiness  always  has  its  assailants  here  below. 
Jesus  had  them  and  will  have  through  all  time. 
All  the  passions,  all  the  vices,  all  the  opponents 
of  the  salvation  of  man  were  His  enemies.  So 
long  as  sin  is  incarnate  in  human  nature,  so  long 
will  it  array  its  armies  against  Jesus  Christ. 
As  long  as  there  are  voluptuous,  proud,  ambitious,, 
and  hypocritical  people — as  long  as  there  are 
souls  preferring  darkness  to  light — so  long  will 
there  be  men  eager  to  confound  Him,  and  whose 
interest  it  is  to  blacken  Him.  This  also  is 
homage,  splendid  and  necessary  homage.  Far 
from  being  surprised  that  He  received  it,  we 
should  have  great  reason  to  doubt  His  character 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


63 


if  He  had  not.  From  that  time  until  this  we 
have  seen  men  of  pleasure  incensed  against  Him 
by  His  purity,  false  zealots  by  His  sincerity, 
selfish  men  by  His  love,  formalists  by  His 
spirituality.  Alas !  every  species  of  adversary 
that  He  has  had  since,  was  already  assembled 

around  Him  at  Jerusalem,  to  extinguish  Him  had 

\ 

it  been  possible.  They  formed  the  most  formid¬ 
able  league  against  Him,  and  conceived  the  most 
skilful  plot  in  order  to  confound  Him.  With  a 
clear-sightedness  and  an  astuteness  that  could 
only  have  been  inspired  by  hell,  they  saw  that  the 
only  means  of  ruining  Him  was  to  surprise  Him 
into  some  error.  “  If  this  man  make  a  single 

faux  pas  ”  they  said  to  themselves,  “  it  is  all  over 

% 

with  Him  ;  ”  and  they  were  right.  Observe  them 
then  about  His  path ;  spying  out  all  His  proceed¬ 
ings,  putting  a  meaning  upon  every  action, 
watching  every  word  to  see  if  they  could  not 
find  in  it  the  semblance  of  a  pretext  for  accu¬ 
sation. 

And  not  only  so ;  they  set  the  most  cunning 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


"64 

snares  for  His  steps ;  they  tried  to  make  Him 
contradict  Himself,  to  put  Him  into  difficulties 
from  which  there  was  no  escape.  For  three 
months  they  did  their  utmost  to  tty  to  catch  Him 
in  His  talk.  But  they  were  utterly  frustrated. 
Their  growing  exasperation  is  sufficient  proof  of 
this.  They  looked  for  faults  in  Him  with  such 
obstinacy  and  craftiness,  because  they  could  not 
detect  one. 

What  did  they  care  for  one  sinner  more  or  less 
among  the  people,  whom  they  called  accursed  ? 
But  one  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  a  saint,  a  king 
of  souls  and  consciences,  was  what  they  could 
not  tolerate.  It  was  the  lustre  of  His  innocence 
that  especially  provoked  their  rage.  And  if  they 
ever  succeed  in  defeating  Him,  it  will  only  be  by 
bearing  a  new  and  supreme  testimony  to  Him  in 
their  own  fashion.  Even  at  the  moment  of  their 
triumph,  Jesus  could  say  to  them  with  His 
habitual  calmness :  “  Which  of  you  convinceth 
me  of  sin  ?  ”  Pilate,  while  giving  way  to  their 
■violence,  said  in  his  turn,  while  washing  his 


THE  HOL  V  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


65 


hands  :  “  I  am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  just 
person.” 

The  thief  crucified  with  Him  was  converted 
solely  by  the  evidence  of  His  moral  sovereignty. 
A  Roman  centurion  who  had  watched  all  these 
events,  when  all  was  finished,  exclaimed :  “  Cer¬ 
tainly  this  was  a  righteous  man.” 

Thus,  admiration  has  survived  ignominy,  and 
the  disgraceful  death  of  the  Son  of  Man,  far  from 
abasing  Him  in  the  esteem  of  men,  has  only 
served  to  give  stronger  testimony  to  the  un¬ 
precedented  impression  which  has  been  produced 
by  His  life.  For  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  of 
whatever  age  or  country,  the  perfection  of  their 
crucified  Master  is  the  axiom  of  axioms,  an  article 
of  morality  as  well  as  an  article  of  faith.  It  is  not 
only  the  corner  stone,  it  is  the  very  condition  of 
their  existence  as  an  association. 

You  have  heard  of  the  palaces  of  ice  which  are 
sometimes  built  in  Russia,  the  work  of  a  season, 
to  disappear  in  spring.  They  are  real  habita¬ 
tions  presenting  every  appearance  of  harmony  and 

F 


66 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


solidity ;  but  one  condition  is  necessary  for  their 
existence,  and  when  this  is  wanting,  all  melts 
away,  and  some  fine  day  not  a  vestige  remains 
of  this  chef  d’ceurve  of  art.  The  Church  is  this 
edifice,  my  brethren ;  it  subsists  only  on  one 
condition  (more  stable  in  truth  than  the  tem¬ 
perature).  Suppose,  to  imagine  an  impossibility, 
the  discovery  of  a  gigantic  imposture,  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  a  vice,  of  a  single  failing  in  the  life  of 
Jesus  Christ,  such  as  we  may  find  in  our  own 
lives  by  hundreds,  and  this  magnificent  edifice  in 
which  so  many  generations  of  men  have  found 
shelter,  I  will  not  say  it  melts  away,  but  it  is 
eclipsed.  Nothing  remains  of  it — not  an  atom 
worth  preserving ;  you  take  it  up,  it  crumbles 
away  in  your  hand.  Here,  then,  are  millions  of 
millions  of  men,  of  every  class  and  of  every  shade 
of  culture,  including  the  most  profound  thinkers 
and  the  most  subtle  moralists,  who  for  eighteen 
centuries  have  been  contemplating  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ,  reading  His  soul  and  weighing  His 
character,  and  they  proclaim  unanimously,  in  the 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


6  7 


face  of  the  world,  not  only  that  they  have  not 
been  able  to  find  a  trace  of  imperfection,  but  that 
they  cannot  find  a  grandeur  or  moral  beauty 
which  does  not  find  its  definite  and  realised  type 
in  Him. 

You  yourselves,  whoever  you  are,  whether  you 
will  or  not,  instinctively  obey  this  impression. 
We  have,  in  fact,  made  Jesus  Christ  the  law  of 
our  moral  world ;  we  have  learnt  to  rate  and 
verify  everything  according  to  Him ;  we  feel  that 
to  depart  from  Him  is  to  depart  from  good  ;  to 
approach  Him  is  the  highest  and  purest  expres¬ 
sion  of  the  law  of  duty.  It  is  a  unique  fact 
which  raises  Jesus  Christ  to  an  incomparable 
height  above  the  men  who  have  bequeathed  their 
memory  to  the  admiration  of  their  fellows. 

In  every  sphere  of  human  greatness,  the  name 
of  a  great  man  immediately  evokes  the  names  of 
other  great  men,  his  peers,  with  whom  we  in- 
voluntarily  compare  him.  But  in  the  sphere  of 
perfection,  if  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  is  pro¬ 
nounced,  every  other  name  remains  in  shadow ; 


68 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


He  has  neither  equal  nor  rival ;  and  this  Being 
so  true,  so  natural,  so  human,  appears  to  us  in 
the  very  bosom  of  humanity,  in  mystic  isolation, 
solely  from  the  radiance  of  His  human  beauty. 

My  brethren,  I  take  this  impression  for  what  it 
is — a  fact.  And  pausing  here,  I  cast  a  rapid 
glance  over  the  first  results  arrived  at  from  our 
study.  We  are  now  in  possession  of  three  traits 
which  constitute  provisionally  what  I  will  call 
our  characteristics  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

We  know  that  He  conceived  the  most  extra¬ 
ordinary  project  which  ever  entered  into  the  mind 
of  man — a  project  compared  with  which  the  most 
gigantic  enterprises,  inspired  by  the  most  gigantic 
ambition,  are  mere  child’s  play.  He  saw  that 
the  world  was  not  going  on  well,  He  conceived 
the  idea  of  setting  it  to  rights ;  He  saw  that 
humanity  was  in  suffering,  He  resolved  to  cure 
it ;  He  saw  that  sin  was  the  source  of  all  evil, 
and  He  said  to  Himself:  “  I  will  take  away  the 
sin  of  the  world.”  Besides  which,  we  know  that 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


69 


for  the  accomplishment  of  this  unheard-of  design, 
He  did  not  pretend  to  employ  any  other  means 
than  Himself.  Creating  a  new  world  on  the 
ruins  of  the  old,  He  was  willing  to  take  the 
whole  weight  of  it  on  His  shoulders.  It  was 
by  manifesting  Himself,  and  proposing  Himself 
for  universal  contemplation,  that  He  stirred 
men’s  consciences,  conquered  their  hearts,  and 
transformed  their  ideas  and  morals  ;  in  a  word, 
that  He  made  all  things  new.  We  know,  further, 
that,  Himself  believing  in  the  absolute  perfection 
of  His  moral  character,  He  impressed  this  con¬ 
viction  on  the  minds  of  His  immediate  contem¬ 
poraries,  and  has  made  it  a  fundamental  article 
of  faith  with  an  immense  and  ever-increasing 
posterity.  I  repeat  that  these  are  facts,  and  that 
the  man  to  whom  they  refer  did  really  live. 
Now  suppose  for  a  moment  that  we  were  totally 
ignorant  of  the  details  of  His  life. 

Try  to  reconstruct  it  by  an  effort  of  imagina¬ 
tion.  What  idea  would  you  form  of  it  ? 

You  will  agree  that  this  is  a  historical  problem 


70 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


which  will  occasion  us  strange  perplexities.  When 
I  hear  of  a  conqueror,  of  a  man  who  wishes  to 
enthrone  his  dominion  in  the  world,  I  immediately 
picture  him  at  the  head  of  his  armies,  issuing 
commands  to  his  marshals,  gathering  the  people 
together,  and  making  the  earth  tremble  beneath 
the  steps  of  his  legions.  If  I  hear  of  a  benefactor 
to  mankind  wishing  to  introduce  some  salutary 
reform  on  a  grand  scale,  I  immediately  think  of  a 
philantrophic  prince  enthroned  in  his  capital, 
surrounded  by  his  ministers,  and  covering  his 
states  with  new  and  beneficient  institutions.  But 
a  man  who  conceived  the  idea,  both  of  making 
himself  the  centre  of  the  world  and  of  reforming 
it — What  fabulous  expeditions  will  he  undertake  ? 
What  capital  will  he  choose  for  his  residence  ? 
What  gigantic  springs  of  administration  will  he  set 
in  motion  ?  On  the  other  hand,  when  I  hear  of  a 
man  who  aspires  to  perfection  and  whose  name 
survives  him,  as  we  say,  in  the  odour  of  sanctity, 

I  immediately  think  of  a  contemplative  recluse, 
engrossed  in  mortifying  the  flesh  in  order  to  en- 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


7i 


franchise  the  spirit,  fleeing  temptations,  fasting, 
meditating,  absorbed  in  solitude  and  silence.  But 
a  man  possessing  from  the  first  and  preserving  to 
the  end  a  state  of  absolute  sanctity,  a  man 
indisputably  reputed  perfect — what  impassable 
barriers  did  he  contrive  to  place  from  his  infancy 
between  the  world  and  himself ;  with  what  triple 
cuirass  of  brass  did  he  protect  his  heart?  One 
would  think  he  must  be  a  man  whose  eyes  saw 
nothing,  whose  ears  heard  nothing,  whose  flesh 
never  shuddered,  whose  heart  never  beat  quickly, 
whose  feet,  for  all  I  know,  never  touched  the 
earth. 

When  I  hear  of  a  man  who  designs  to  dazzle 
his  fellow-men,  to  fill  them  with  admiration  by 
attracting  their  attention  to  himself,  I  imagine 
some  mortal  crowned  by  nature  with  all  her 
favours,  and  making  a  parade  of  her  gifts ;  or 
some  sage  of  solemn  aspect,  gathering  other  sages 
around  him  in  order  to  make  even  the  distinction 
accorded  to  him  by  his  disciples  a  pedestal  in  the 
eyes  of  the  profane  vulgar.  But  a  man,  aspiring 


72 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


to  nothing  less  than  to  constitute  himself  the  sole 
object  of  contemplation  for  the  human  race,  a 
man  who  said :  “  Look  unto  me  and  ye  shall 
want  nothing,  you  will  enjoy  complete  satisfac¬ 
tion” — in  what  fantastic  costume  will  he  clothe 
himself,  and  at  what  respectful  distance  will  he 
hold  the  common  herd  of  mortals  by  his  mysterious 
majesty?  But  how  can  all  these  things  be  re¬ 
conciled  ?  I  confess  that  my  mind  is  lost,  and 
after  stumbling  over  impossibility  after  impos¬ 
sibility,  and  contradiction  after  contradiction,  I 
limit  myself  to  concluding,  that  if  the  earth  really 
has  been  the  theatre  of  such  an  existence,  it  has 
witnessed  the  most  extraordinary,  the  most  pro¬ 
digious,  and  most  unheard-of  thing  that  can  be 
imagined. 

After  this  I  open  the  Gospel,  and  read  again 
that  simple  and  touching  history  of  the  carpenter 
of  Nazareth.  Ah  !  grant  that  at  the  head  of  those 
things  which  would  never  have  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man,  must  be  placed  this  extraordinary 
prodigy  of  simplicity. 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


73 


The  Son  of  Man  has  appeared — you  ask  in  what 
capital;  you  will  be  told  in  turn  of  Nazareth, 
Cana,  Nain,  Capernaum,  villages  and  little  towns 
of  an  obscure  province.  You  enquire  about  His 
costume — Ah  !  He  only  wears  the  dress  of  an 
artizan  of  His  country.  You  will  imagine  Him 
surrounded  by  a  staff  of  great  personages :  His 
companions  are  Peter,  James  and  John,  boatmen 
and  fishermen  of  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of 
Galilee.  You  will  open  your  eyes  to  behold  the 
brilliant  actions  with  which  He  will  astonish  the 
world,  and  inaugurate  the  great  revolution  which 
He  foretells  :  His  brilliant  actions  are  to  converse 
with  a  woman  of  Samaria  as  He  sat  on  the  well 
whence  she  came  to  draw  water;  to  console  a 
desolate  mother  by  restoring  to  her  the  son  for 
whom  she  weeps ;  to  feed  a  famished  multitude, 
but  at  the  same  time  taking  care  to  remind  them 
that  there  is  spiritual  food  more  to  be  desired  than 
the  bread  which  perisheth ;  His  great  actions 
are  to  evangelise  the  poor,  to  weep  with  those 
that  weep,  to  answer  all  those  who  ask  for  Him, 


74 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


to  anticipate  the  wants  of  those  who  are  not 
seeking  Him. 

Will  you  seek  Him  ?  Do  you  wish  to  speak  to 
Him?  Ascend  the  hill  near  Jerusalem;  enter 
that  comfortable  house,  you  will  find  Him  in 
company  with  a  brother  and  two  sisters  who 
are  His  friends — or  knock  at  the  door  of  that 
more  humble  abode,  it  is  that  of  the  mother-in- 
law  of  Peter,  His  disciple ;  the  poor  woman  is 
ill,  and  wished  to  be  visited  by  the  Master,  who 
has  compassion  on  His  kind.  Or,  again,  enter 
that  upper  chamber  at  Jerusalem  ;  He  has  come, 
according  to  the  ancient  usage  of  His  people,  to 
celebrate  the  Passover  in  the  Holy  City;  He  is 
supping  with  His  disciples;  one  of  them  leans  upon 

i 

His  breast,  while  they  listen  to  words,  the  gran¬ 
deur  and  sublimity  of  which  penetrate  and  delight 
us  to  this  day,  as  they  doubtless  delighted  them, 
when  they  fell  for  the  first  time  from  His  lips. 

One  abandons  oneself  unconsciously  to  the 
charm  of  freshness  which  is  exhaled  from  the 
Gospel,  and  which  is  always  surprising  every  time 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


75 


that  one  recurs  to  it.  What  is  the  Master  doing 
to-day?  He  has  received  an  invitation  for  Himself 
and  His  disciples  to  be  present  at  a  wedding  feast 
in  the  house  of  friends  in  Cana  in  Galilee.  He 
knows  that  among  His  people  these  times  are 
occasions  of  rejoicing,  at  which  they  indulge  in  all 
the  hopes  of  life.  But  this  will  not  be  with  Him  a 
reason  for  refusing :  He  will  go ;  and,  mark  well,  He 
will  not  go  as  an  ascetic,  to  protest  by  a  crabbed 
countenance  against  the  joyfulness  of  the  com¬ 
pany;  He  will  take  a  part  in  it  by  joining  His  good 
wishes  and  felicitations  with  theirs ;  above  all,  He 
will  go  to  sanctify  it  by  something  (I  know  not 
what)  within  Him  which  extracts  from  every  occa¬ 
sion  a  perfume,  as  it  were,  to  the  glory  of  God. 
Another  time,  what  is  it  that  I  see  ?  The  Master 
is  sitting  in  the  midst  of  His  disciples — He  is 
teaching,  and  an  attentive  crowd  are  hanging  upon 
His  words.  Some  mothers  (they  are  the  same 
everywhere,  and  have  but  one  idea),  some  mothers 
agree  to  break  the  ranks,  pushing  their  little 
children  before  them  ;  they  wish  to  present  them 


76 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


to  Him.  This  naturally  causes  a  disturbance. 
The  disciples  reprove  these  indiscreet  women. 
Jesus  interferes.  It  is  said  that  He  was  much 
displeased.  “Suffer  the  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not!”  And  see,  He 
occupies  Himself  with  them,  caresses  and  blesses 
them,  then  looking  up,  He  said:  “Whosoever 
therefore  shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child, 
the  same  is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven; 
and  whoso  shall  receive  one  such  little  child  in 
my  name  receiveth  me.”* 

Did  He  not  in  truth  sometimes  forget  Himself  ? 
Happy  parents,  who  are  preparing  for  the  nuptials 
of  your  sons  and  daughters ;  happy  mothers,  who 
gaze  upon  your  first-born  in  the  cradle  with  those 
far-reaching  thoughts  of  the  heart,  do  you  not 
shudder  at  the  bare  idea  of  what  would  be  wanting 
in  the  Gospel  without  the  narrative  of  the  mar¬ 
riage  of  Cana  in  Galilee,  or  that  of  the  blessing  of 
little  children? 

But  I  allow  that  these  are  isolated  incidents, 

*  Matt,  xviii.  4,  5. 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


77 


and  it  is  true  that  His  heart  more  often  led  him  to 
sinners  to  proclaim  pardon  to  them,  and  to  the 
unhappy  to  lavish  His  consolations  upon  them. 
One  might  even  say  that  there  was  something 
like  a  hidden  virtue  in  Him  that  attracted  them. 
The  routes  along  which  He  passed  were  crowded 
with  them,  and  as  soon  as  He  arrived  at  a  place, 
they  everywhere  hastened  to  bring  them  to  Him. 
He  was  then  seen  as  it  were  to  multiply  Himself, 
to  dispense  His  benefits,  without  ever  neglecting 
an  opportunity  of  speaking  to  souls,  to  call  them 
to  repentance  and  pardon;  and  always  in  a  manner 
at  once  so  apropos  and  sublime,  that  His  words 
were  precisely  appropriate  to  each  particular  case, 
precisely  those  which  should  be  heard  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  and  which  will  endure  when  heaven 
and  earth  shall  pass  away. 

But  it  is  time  to  introduce  some  order  into  the 
reflections  to  which  the  spectacle  of  his  life  natur¬ 
ally  gives  rise.  Jesus  proclaimed  the  extraordinary 
character  which  true  holiness  should  present  : 

“Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  your 


78 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


righteousness  shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  case 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.”*  “For  if  ye 
love  them  which  love  you,  what  reward  have 
ye  ?  do  not  even  the  publicans  the  same  ?  ”  t 
All  His  precepts  tend  to  perfection,  and 
consequently  protest  against  that  luke-warm 
morality,  that  mediocrity  which  is  content  in 
respect  of  goodness  with  having  neither  poverty 
nor  riches;  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  declare, 
without  fear  of  paradox,  that  the  publicans  ' and 
sinners  were  nearer  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as 
being  more  disposed  to  entire  conversion,  than 
respectable  and  self-satisfied  worldlings.  But  when 
men  affect  extraordinary  sanctity,  they  voluntarily 
make  themselves  conspicuous,  and  make  a  good 
bargain  of  it.  They  separate  themselves,  affect 
singularity,  pass  their  lives  apart  from  the  lives  of 
common  men,  try  to  unhumanise  themselves  ;  but 
they  often  retain,  alas !  too  large  a  portion  of  the 
sad  heritage  of  which  they  affect  to  renounce  the 
*  Matt.  v.  20.  t  Matt.  v.  46. 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


79 


form.  The  pride  of  the  stoic,  as  has  been  said, 
may  be  seen  through  the  holes  in  his  mantle.  The 
ordinary  life  which  is  sinful  is  seen  through  extra¬ 
ordinary  appearances. 

Jesus  did  exactly  the  contrary.  In  His  case, 
it  was  a  radiance  from  within,  never  from  with¬ 
out,  which  shone  upon  everything  around  Him. 
He  did  no  violence  to  any  of  the  forms  under 
which  life  presents  itself,  but  He  gave  life  to 
them.  He  did  not  re-arrange  anything ;  He 
transfigured  everything. 

Life  was  the  path  to  which  God  had  directed 
His  steps.  His  first  act  of  wisdom  was  to  accept 
it,  the  second  to  walk  in  it  without  hesitation  or 
mistake.  His  extraordinary  holiness  never  shone 
except  through  the  most  ordinary  conditions  of  life. 

You  will  never,  for  example,  see  Him  yield  to 
the  temptation  of  making  Himself  the  exclusive 
representative  of  any  one  class  of  society.  And 
so  true  is  this,  that  if  you  wish  to  represent  Him 
in  an  unnatural  way,  you  have  only  to  assign  this 
part  to  Him,  which  is  so  common  among  men 


8o 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


who  propose  to  exert  by  their  example  or  teaching 
a  reformatory  influence  upon  the  morals  of  their 
species.  He  lived  in  poverty ;  He  loved  it ;  He 
raised  its  condition  for  the  sake  of  the  poor,  whom 
He  loved  and  longed  to  raise.  He  speaks  with 
tenderness  of  the  little  ones  ;  He  loves  them  in 
proportion  to  the  privations  they  have  to  endure ; 
but  try  to  make  a  mendicant  monk  of  Him,  or  a 
tribune  of  the  proletariat  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  He  did  not  shun  the  society 
of  the  rich :  He  lodged  in  the  house  of  Lazarus, 
He  took  a  meal  at  the  house  of  Simon  the 
Pharisee,  He  bore  an  admirable  testimony  to 
Zaccheus  the  publican  ;  but  try  to  make  Him  a 
patron  of  prosperity,  or  the  bribed  defender  of  the 
rights  of  the  rich  ! 

He  lived  in  celibacy,  and  honoured  marriage  ; 
He  was  a  Jew,  and  bore  testimony  to  the  Gentiles; 
the  most  profound  doctors  came  to  consult  Him, 
and  He  thanked  God  for  having  placed  wisdom 
within  reach  of  less  cultivated  minds.  It  was 
necessary  that  He  should  occupy  one  place  in  the 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


81 


world  and  not  another  ;  He  could  not  be  at  the 
same  time  rich  and  poor,  learned  and  ignorant, 
man  and  woman,  old  man  and  child.  But  does 
it  not  appear  to  you  as  if  a  radiance  was  shed 
from  Him  on  every  condition  of  life,  and  you 
see  men  from  them  all  in  turn  bow  down  before 
Him,  and  rise  up  endued  with  a  new  grandeur 
which  pervades  and  glorifies  them. 

There  is  a  prejudice  against  holiness  which 
accuses  it  of  narrowing  life,  and  of  closing  the 
heart  against  the  generous  vibrations  of  nature ; 
a  saint,  it  is  thought,  is  a  man  who  constructs  a 
cell  for  himself  here  below,  and  who  dares  not 
expose  his  delicate  soul  to  the  contact  of  the  fresh 
air.  This  surely  is  a  prejudice  which  must  fall 
to  the  ground  on  meeting  with  Him  whom  we 
Christians  love  to  consider  as  the  model  of 
perfect  holiness.  What  life  bloomed  more  freely 
or  shed  its  light  more  profusely  than  His  ? 

Shall  we  speak  of  His  relations  with  others  ? 
Watch  Him  with  His  disciples,  to  whom  He  was 
at  once  Companion,  Master,  Father,  Brother,  and 

G 


82 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


who  furnished  Him  at  every  step  with  the  means 
of  testing  the  feelings  of  a  heart  which  overflowed 
with  friendship. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  unexpected  and 
surprising  grace  of  His  manner  with  little  chil¬ 
dren,  that  touchstone  of  true  natures.  What 
might  not  be  said  of  His  relations  with  women, 
that  touchtone  of  truly  pure  natures  ?  Do  you 
know  that  He  counted  among  His  friends  some 
of  the  chiefs  of  the  people,  Nicodemus  and 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  at  the  same  time  that  He 
was  taunted  with  His  novel  and  beneficient  rela¬ 
tions  with  publicans  and  sinners.  Who,  I  ask, 
did  He  exclude  from  His  society  ?  Who  did  He 
despise  ?  With  whom  did  He  find  Himself  ill  at 
ease  ?  Who  was  too  degraded  for  this  Being  so 
pure,  or  too  vulgar  for  this  Being  so  noble,  or  too 
great  for  this  Being  so  humble,  or  too  insignificant 
for  this  Being  so  sublime  ? 

Shall  I  speak  of  His  activity  ?  A  famous  sect 
of  antiquity  summed  up  the  rules  of  conduct  in 
these  two  words  :  Bear  and  forbear  ! 


THE  HOL  Y  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


8' 


A  noble  motto,  the  austere  severity  of  which  our 
conscience  salutes  in  passing ;  but  how  far  is  it 
surpassed  by  that  of  the  Son  of  Man,  which  might 
be  summed  up  in  two  other  words :  Sanctify  and 
diffuse  thyself.  It  is  not  He  who  would  say : 
“  When  my  hand  is  full  of  truths,  I  will  not  open 
it.”  Every  impulse  in  Him  is  to  action.  If  He 
has  not  a  place  where  to  lay  His  head,  it  is 
because  He  is  going  incessantly  from  place  to 
place  to  do  good.  The  crowds  which  press 
around  Him  are  like  a  land  watered  by  His  gifts, 
and  His  gifts  are  Himself ;  He  gives  Himself 
in  every  form,  His  sympathies,  His  virtues,  His 
strength,  the  treasures  of  His  heart  and  soul.  It 
is  an  open  fountain,  which  is  never  dry,  because 
it  is  always  fed  from  I  know  not  what  hidden 
spring,  which  seems  to  possess  benefits  enough 
to  submerge  the  world. 

Shall  I  speak  of  the  substance  of  His  teach¬ 
ing?  It  is  not  only  His  body,  but  His  mind 
which  wanders  unceasingly  amidst  the  various 
scenes  of  existence.  What  knowledge  of  life  and 


G  2 


84 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


penetration  are  displayed  in  His  parables,  which 
always  represent  man  as  he  is,  in  the  most 
familiar  as  well  as  the  most  dramatic  situations. 
He  speaks  but  of  heaven,  of  God,  of  the  eternal 
destiny,  of  immortal  souls ;  but  He  always  speaks 
as  a  man  who  has  seen  the  shepherd  leading  His 
flock  to  the  pasture,  the  sower  scattering  the 
grain  in  the  furrows,  the  woman  making  bread, 
the  fisherman  casting  his  nets,  the  father  weeping 
over  the  excesses  of  his  wandering  child,  or  the 
happy  celebration  of  wedding  festivals.  On  the 
other  hand,  what  prodigious  fecundity  of  applica¬ 
tion  in  His  words.  Every  word  that  falls  from 
His  lips  contains  a  living  germ  of  indefinite 
progress.  He  says:  “Render  unto  Caesar  the 
things  that  are  Caesar’s,”  and  settles  the  basis 
of  the  distinction  between  two  societies.  He 
says:  “Our  Father,  which  art  in  heaven,”  and 
sows  the  seeds  of  universal  fraternity.  He 
speaks,  and  gives  out,  as  if  accidentally,  the  in¬ 
fallible  programme  of  the  only  true  civilisation. 
Kings  may  learn  a  novel  policy,  and  the  people 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


85 


a  new  manner  of  associating  on  the  stage  of  the 
world.  He  speaks,  and  at  the  distance  of  eighteen 
centuries  His  words  will  soften  the  manners  of  the 
cannibal,  while  at  the  same  time  they  reform  our  old 

codes  of  laws,  and  transform  our  ancient  institutions. 

*  * 

Finally,  my  brethren,  consider  the  attitude  of 
the  Son  of  Man  in  danger.  There  is  a  twofold 
temptation  for  great  minds.  Some,  intoxicated  by 
their  power,  and  actuated  by  an  instinct  more 
noble  than  prudent,  seem  to  take  a  pleasure  in 
confronting  danger  gratuitously. 

We  have  a  memorable  example  of  this  in  one 
of  the  apostles,  Peter.  Simon  Peter  subjected 
himself  to  a  trial  which  did  not  lie  in  his 
path.  Now  Jesus  pronounced  on  such  as  he,  a 
sentence  worthy  of  note,  when  He  said  that 
"Those  who  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the 
sword.”  And  with  the  precept,  as  in  other  cases, 
He  furnished  the  example.  Whatever  conscious¬ 
ness  He  had  within  Him  of  strength  to  sur¬ 
mount  temptations,  you  will  never  see  Him  seek 
or  despise  them  beforehand. 


86 


7 HE  SON  OF  MAN. 


But  there  is  also  a  temptation  to  simplify  the 
conditions  of  holiness  by  flying  from  trial.  It  is 
easy  to  be  humble  in  solitude.  Show  me  your 
humility  amongst  the  crowd,  alternately  en¬ 
thusiastic  and  hostile.  It  is  easy  to  be  good, 
when  we  can  make  choice  of  our  society.  Show 
me  your  goodness  in  the  face  of  indifference, 
ingratitude,  and  hatred. 

Now,  Jesus,  exempt  alike  from  temerity  and 
presumption,  submitted  to,  without  courting  the 
trials  of  life.  And  whether  He  was  spared  them 
or  not,  you  know.  Would  you  not  say  on  review¬ 
ing  His  short  history,  that  in  order  to  exhibit 
exceptional  holiness,  the  elements  of  exceptional 
trial,  complete  without  example,  have  been  given 
us  ? 

He  was  in  temptations,  my  brethren,  He  was 
sifted  as  we  are,  indeed,  not  one  of  us  is  sifted  as 
He  was.  I  do  not  only  allude  to  that  mysterious 
scene  which  is  recounted  by  the  evangelists  which 
presents  Him  to  us  as  preluding  His  ministry,  by 
a  threefold  and  solemn  victory,  over  the  lust  of 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


87 


the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life. 
Enter  with  Him  into  that  career  which  should 
touch  so  profoundly  the  feelings  and  passions  of 
every  heart.  It  is  all  trial,  increasing  trial,  trial 
gradually  pushed  to  an  extreme,  but  always 
surmounted  by  a  calm  strength,  master  of  itself, 
gradually  so  exalted  as  to  leave  on  the  mind  the 
impression  of  Almighty  power. 

What  a  test  of  humility,  to  begin  as  He  did,  by 
being  for  a  time  the  idol  of  the  crowd,  and  to 
excite  at  last  the  unjust  contempt  of  the  hypo¬ 
critical  Pharisees.  Now,  review  His  life  from  the 
cradle  at  Bethlehem,  to  the  cross  at  Golgotha ; 
not  only  will  you  not  find  the  slightest  shade  of 
self-love  either  encouraged  or  repressed,  of  pride 
or  ambition,  but  not  even  the  most  imperceptible 
deviation  from  that  unique  character  which  caused 
Him  to  be  called  the  Master,  meek  and  lowly  of 
heart.  What  a  test  of  goodness  to  see  the  most 
generous  devotion  repaid  by  the  blackest  ingrati¬ 
tude,  and  instead  of  gratitude  to  meet  with  that 
hatred  and  cruelty  which  ended  by  glutting  itself 


88 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


in  the  sufferings  on  Calvary.  Now,  review  His 
life  again ;  I  do  not  ask  you  whether  you  find  the 
least  trace  of  rancour  or  egotism,  but  whether  in 
the  whole  world  you  can  find  a  type  of  charity  to- 
compare  with  that  which  you  have  seen  increasing 
in  Him,  until  the  hour  when  the  trial  was  at  its 
height.  Always  equal  to  His  burden,  even  when 
He  has  the  whole  world  upon  Him,  He  proves 
to  all  observers  that  the  prince  of  this  world  had 
indeed  nothing  in  Him. 

Now,  my  brethren,  turn  your  thoughts  inward 
for  a  time,  and  collect  your  impressions.  I  may 
be  mistaken,  but  it  seems  to  me  as  if  something 
strange,  unusual,  something  almost  mysterious, 
must  produce  a  prodigy  before  your  eyes,  as  if  you 
were  present  at  a  sort  of  transfiguration. 

Consider  well  this  career  of  three  years,  these 
remarkably  simple  events,  and  by  degrees  you  will 
see  the  Son  of  Man  come  out  of  His  frame,  and 
grow  and  grow  and  grow,  until  His  proportions 
surpass  the  limits  not  only  of  your  experience,  but 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


89. 


of  your  imagination.  As  for  myself,  I  cannot 
desist  from  studying  this  phenomenon  ;  it  attracts, 
it  moves,  it  almost  fascinates  me.  I  see  at  first 
the  most  inconspicuous  of  mortals,  passing  his 
days  in  the  most  inconspicuous  conditions  of  life. 
I  fix  my  attention  on  the  humble  figure  of  this 
carpenter  going  forth  from  His  abode  in  the  garb 
of  a  working  man,  gathering  a  few  friends  around 
Him,  going  from  place  to  place  by  the  common 
ways,  bearing  the  burden  of  life  as  it  is  presented- 
to  Him ;  without  ambition,  without  eclat,  without 
success,  struggling,  suffering,  dying.  Then  by 
degrees  this  envelope  vanishes,  and  what  does  it 
leave  before  my  eyes  ? — it  is  a  spirit,  but  a  spirit 
that  knowing  neither  time  nor  space,  suddenly 
fills  the  horizon  of  my  thoughts,  as  when  God 
said  :  “  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light.” 

Doubtless,  the  carpenter  of  Nazareth  knew  but 
three  days  of  life  upon  the  earth,  but  what  does 
that  signify  ?  His  spirit  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  reckoning  of  days ;  and  I  feel  that  it  exists 
from  age  to  age,  overshadowing  all  the  generations 


90 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


of  men.  He  lives  as  much  to-day  as  He  did 
two  thousand  years  ago,  and  will  not  be  more 
changed  in  the  days  of  our  remotest  posterity. 
He  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever. 

Doubtless,  the  carpenter  of  Nazareth  did  but 
cover  with  His  shadow  an  imperceptible  point  of 
our  globe.  But  what  does  that  signify?  His 
spirit  knows  no  bounds,  and  I  see  Him  communi¬ 
cating  Himself  to  one  place  after  another,  passing 
the  limits  of  states,  crossing  mountains  and 
oceans,  enveloping  the  whole  earth  with  a  new 
atmosphere,  and  I  understand  the  words :  Ye 
shall  be  witnesses  unto  me,  unto  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth.* 

Doubtless,  the  carpenter  of  Nazareth  knew  but 
one,  and  that  the  least  brilliant  of  the  ten  thousand 
forms  in  which  human  nature  is  clothed.  But 
what  does  that  signify  ?  His  spirit  is  not  united 
to  any  form ;  it  is  compatible  with  every  con¬ 
dition  ;  rich  and  poor,  learned  and  ignorant,  the 
aged,  women  and  children,  all  are  elevated  by 


*  Acts  i.  8. 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


9i 


Him ;  He  reigns  beneath  the  purple  of  the 
sovereign,  just  as  He  illumines  the  hut  of  the 
slave ;  and  I  understand  St.  Paul  when  he  says  : 
In  Christ  there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  male 
nor  female,  bond  nor  free.* 

Doubtless,  the  carpenter  of  Nazareth  only  ex¬ 
perienced  some  of  the  trials  of  life.  But  what 
does  that  signify  ?  His  spirit  is  equal  to  every 
contest,  there  is  no  victory  beyond  His  powers ; 
He  will  sustain  the  criminal  who  repents,  and  the 
martyr  who  succumbs,  the  child  who  tries  to 
please  its  mother,  and  the  mother  who  weeps  at 
the  tomb  of  her  child ;  and  I  comprehend  the 
words  of  the  apostle  :  “In  all  these  things  we  are 
more  than  conquerors. ”t  “  I  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me.”f 

I  have  searched  in  vain  in  imagination,  and  I 
can  find  no  situation,  nor  time  nor  place  nor 
extremity  in  which  man  may  not  be  changed  to 
the  very  depths  of  his.  being,  by  being  clothed  with 
that  spirit  which  I  see  emanate  in  all  its  force  and 
*  Coloss.  iii.  11.  f  Romans  viii.  37.  \  Phil.  iv.  13. 


92 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


glory  from  the  miserable  envelope  of  the  obscure 
career  of  the  Son  of  Man  on  earth.  Now,  if  this 
spirit  is  the  spirit  of  holiness,  we  must  conclude 
that  Christ  has  given  us  proof  of  perfect  holiness, 
for  I  should  not  call  any  holiness  perfect  which 
could  not  be  attained  by  other  men.  What,  then, 
is  this  spirit?  To  understand  it  thoroughly,  we 
must  carry  back  our  thoughts  to  the  earthly  life  of 
the  Son  of  Man ;  for  it  was  then,  and  at  no  other 
time,  that  it  was  manifested  in  its  plenitude. 
This  is  the  focus,  the  centre  from  which  light  is 
radiated  in  the  world.  The  real,  the  living  Christ 
— the  Christ  the  Son  of  Man — will  always  be  the 
treasure  of  humanity,  happen  what  may. 

Now,  the  trait  which  would  first  strike  a  super¬ 
ficial  observer  is  His  human  charity.  Some  of  the 
forms  of  love  had  been  known  before  He  came ; 
there  had  been  intelligent  minds  enamoured  of 
truth;  mothers,  who  lived  but  for  their  children; 
citizens,  who  died  for  their  country;  noble  minds 
had  even  consecrated  all  their  efforts  to  find  out 
the  supreme  good,  in  order  to  give  it  to  mankind 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


93 


But  this  love,  so  sure  of  itself — equable,  constant, 
universal— for  which  the  new  word  charity  has 
been  created,  is  only  truly  to  be  seen,  and  has 
only  become  conscious  of  itself  in  the  soul  of  the 
Son  of  Man ;  it  has  the  value  of  an  absolute  dis¬ 
covery.  We  who  have  received  it  as  a  heritage 
since  it  appeared  in  the  world,  cannot  fail  to 
recognise  in  it  the  law  of  perfection.  But  let  us 
remember  that  if  the  idea  now  belongs  to  us  in  all 
its  sublimity,  it  is  because  the  reality,  more  sublime 
than  the  idea,  has  been  placed  before  our  eyes. 
We  may  say  that  charity  has  two  modes  of 
expressing  itself ;  to  one  we  give  the  name  of 
abnegation,  because  it  forgets  itself ;  to  the  other, 
devotion,  because  it  gives  itself.  Now,  consider 
charity  as  it  is  in  Christ ;  you  may  find  the  form 
of  it,  but  never  the  limit. 

The  limit  of  His  abnegation  !  You  will  have 
found  it  when  in  any  part  of  His  life  you  can  trace 
a  thought  of  Himself — a  selfish  regret,  a  breath  of 
pride,  a  spark  of  ambition,  a  trace  of  any  self- 
seeking  whatsoever.  You  can  study  it  for  your- 


94 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


selves,  you  have  the  Gospels  in  your  hands ;  you 
know  how  man  is  skilled  in  the  ingenious  art  of 
returning  to  the  centre,  self,  by  a  thousand  feints 
and  a  thousand  circumlocutions — but  as  for  Jesus, 
I  defy  you  absolutely  ever  to  find  Him  in  fault. 

The  limit  of  His  devotion  !  Try  to  find  any 
form  of  goodness  which  can  be  carried  further 
than  it  was  by  Him.  Be  it  compassion,  when  He 
was  moved  by  the  crowds  which  followed  Him  ; 
benificence,  when  He  consoles  the  miserable ; 
forgiveness,  when  He  prays  for  His  executioners ; 
lenity,  when  He  raised  up  the  sinner,  or  the 
woman  taken  in  adultery — holy  indignation  against 
injustice.  Mercy,  love  of  enemies,  love  of  souls, 
spirit  of  sacrifice.  Consult  the  Gospels  again  ; 
you  may  search,  but  you  will  not  find  one. 

These  things  cannot  be  demonstrated ;  they  are 
felt — and  it  cannot  be  that  you  have  not  felt  them. 
It  is  the  inexhaustible,  absolute,  infinite  character 
of  His  charity  which  constitutes  the  originality  of 
the  Son  of  Man.  We  may  search  for  a  few  drops 
of  it  at  the  bottom  of  our  own  hearts,  with  Him 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


95 


the  vessel  is  always  full  to  overflowing.  But  we 
will  not  stop  at  the  surface,  we  will  go  to  the 
foundations.  Having  discovered  the  course  of  the 
stream,  we  will  go  back  to  the  source.  To  under¬ 
stand  the  outward  man  who  astonishes  us,  let  us 
penetrate  to  the  inward  man,  and  ask  for  His 
secret.  The  inward  man  did  I  say  ?  Is  this  the 
language  we  must  employ  ?  As  soon  as  I  pene¬ 
trate  into  the  sanctuary  of  His  soul  to  discover 
the  invisible  guest,  I  find  myself  arrested  by  an 
unexpected  meeting.  I  expected  to  find  Him 
alone.  But  it  is  not  so.  Another  is  with  Him — 
always  with  Him.  “I  am  not  alone,”  He  said,  in 
speaking  of  it;  “when  all  abandon  me,  I  shall 
not  be  alone,  for  he  is  with  me.”  While  the 
earth,  moved  at  His  presence,  kisses  His  footsteps 

or  meditates  upon  His  words,  He  holds  converse 

* 

within  Himself  with  the  confidant  of  His  soul, 
whose  invisible  face  He  contemplates.  There  is 
a  heart  open  to  all  the  effusions  of  His  heart,  a 
mind  which  interprets  His  thoughts,  a  language 
which  answers  to  His.  It  is  not  solitude ;  there 


96 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


is  intercourse  in  His  inner  life  to  such  an  extent, 
that  in  solemn  moments,  like  a  man  thinking 
aloud,  words  escaped  Him  which  were  not  intended 
for  our  ears,  and  which  are  but  detached  fragments 
of  the  mysterious  colloquy  within.  “I  know  that 
thou  hearest  me  always,”  He  said  at  the  grave  of 
Lazarus;  and  at  Gethsemane :  “If  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass  from  me,  nevertheless,  not  as  I 
will  but  as  thou  wilt.”  And  on  the  cross:  “Why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me?”  You  would  say  that 
there  was  another  self,  above  Him,  and  yet  equal, 
whom  He  silently  addresses, —  whom  He  loves 
above  all,  and  by  whom  He  is  loved  with  the  love 
that  said:  “We  are  one.” 

But  why  so  much  mystery,  when  there  is  nothing 
that  seems  so  congenial  to  His  heart  as  that  of 
this  inward  intimacy  to  which  He  is  pleased  to 
confide  everything.  The  subject  is  never  exhausted 
when  He  explains  to  His  disciples  the  ineffable 
relations  which  unite  Him  to  the  Invisible  One; 
more  living,  more  present,  more  familiar,  more 
visible  to  Him  than  any  one  amongst  them. 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


97 


A  « 

4 ‘My  Father”  (it  is  thus  that  He  calls  Him) 
“  loveth  me.”  “As  the  Father  knoweth  me,  even  so 
know  I  the  Father.”*  “The  Son  can  do  nothing 
of  himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the  Father  do:  for 

the  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  sheweth  him  all 

% 

things  that  himself  doeth,  and  he  will  shew  him 
greater  works  than  these,  that  ye  may  marvel.”  t 
“My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me.”J 
“My  Father  and  I  are  one.”§  But  I  shall  never 
have  finished.  Rather  read  the  whole  Gospels 
again  for  yourselves.  But  who,  then,  is  this 
intimate  friend,  this  ineffable  confidant  of  His  soul, 
this  other  self  whom  He  adores — in  a  word,  this 
Father?  In  order  to  explain  it  to  you,  my  brethren, 
perhaps  it  will  suffice  to  recall  some  occasions 
when  Jesus  does  not  speak  of  Him  as  His  Father 
only,  but  as  ours  also.  “When  ye  pray,  therefore, 
say  ‘our  Father.’”  It  is  God,  then  !  My  brethren, 
if  there  be  a  God,  it  can  be  but  He.  If  man  were 
a  mere  machine,  a  God  who  was  a  machine  might 

*  John  x.  15.  f  John  v.  19,  20.  %  John  iv.  34. 

§  John  x.  30. 

H 


9S 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


perhaps  suffice  him ;  if  man  were  an  idea,  perhaps 
a  God  who  was  an  abstraction  might  do  for  him ; 
hut,  man! — do  you  not  feel  that  man  is  a  being 
who  thinks,  who  loves,  who  wishes,  who  lives. 
Man  must  have  a  God  who  understands,  who 
loves,  and  directs  him.  Man  is  a  solitary  being, 
and  if  he  is  sometimes  tempted  to  forget  it,  life 
and  death  are  there  to  recall  it.  Give  him,  then, 
a  God  who  lives  with  him,  a  God  who  is  his 
Father!  Now,  this  is  the  very  foundation  of  the 
moral  nature  of  the  Son  of  Man,  the  key  to  His 
character,  and  to  all  the  marvels  of  His  manifest¬ 
ation;  it  is  that  penetrating  into  His  soul  we  find 
ourselves  face  to  face  with  the  true  God,  so  much 
sought  after,  so  much  desired,  so  much  misunder¬ 
stood.  We  find  Him  there  in  all  the  brightness 
of  His  glory — that  is  to  say,  of  His  goodness. 
The  presence  of  the  sun  is  clearly  seen  from  the 
least  of  his  rays.  However  short  and  obscure 
may  be  the  appearance  of  a  Being  always  with 
God,  thinking  always  as  God  thinks,  loving  only 
what  God  loves,  having  no  will  but  the  will  of 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUS1 


99 


God;  such  a  being  can  truly  say, — “He  that  hath 
seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.”  His  spirit — since 
we  have  used  the  expression — His  spirit  is  the 
Spirit  of  God  Himself.  You  will  seek  in  vain  for 
shadows  there  ;  it  is  the  spirit  of  a  perfect  being. 

It  is  from  this,  my  brethren,  that  arises  that 
incomparable  harmony,  which  makes  the  figure 
of  the  Son  of  Man  always  shine  with  equal  splen¬ 
dour,  and  renders  it  impossible  to  trace  His  like¬ 
ness.  You  will  observe  that  I  have  not  even 
attempted  it.  We  have  walked  round  Him,  we 
have  contemplated  Him,  but  we  have  not  taken 
His  likeness.  Every  feature  that  I  might  have 
delineated  would  have  been  immediately  eclipsed 
by  another  no  less  striking.  You  will  find  every 
quality  in  Him,  never  what  we  call  the  defect  of  a 
quality ;  always  the  perfect  reconciliation  of  con¬ 
tradictions,  every  virtue  in  equilibrium,  bringing 

\ 

out  and  illuminating  each  other,  and  producing 
infinite  reflections  which  defy  all  analysis.  There 
is  no  other  limit  to  His  goodness,  than  the  limit 
of  goodness  itself. 


H  2 


IOO 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


It  is  from  this  also  that  that  peace  arises,  com¬ 
pared  with  which  all  other  peace  seems  false  and 
fictitious.  Notice  the  contrast  of  it  to  the  tumul¬ 
tuous  passions  which  rage  around  Him.  The  air 
is  troubled,  He  alone  is  calm.  He  may  be  com¬ 
pared  to  a  lake,  the  surface  of  which  always 
remains  calm  in  spite  of  the  storm,  and  which,  by 
some  unknown  enchantment,  continues  to  reflect 
the  blue  heavens  amidst  the  commotions  of  nature. 
Just  when  He  was  about  to  quit  His  disciples; 
just  when  He  had  announced  to  them  the  trials 
that  awaited  them;  just  after  having  said:  “In 
the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation  :  they  shall 
bring  you  before  the  judgment  seats;  the  time 
cometh,  that  whosoever  killeth  you  will  think  that 
he  doeth  God  service;”  just  when  He  was  about 
to  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinful  men,  to  be 
made  the  butt  of  their  execrable  hatred ;  when  the 
fearful  storm,  called  His  passion,  was  already 
approaching, — He  retreated  into  Himself,  sounded 
the  depths  of  the  peace  within,  and  finding  it 
infinite,  with  the  same  voice  that  calmed  the 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


IOI 


tempest,  He  addressed  to  them  these  parting 
words :  “  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give 
unto  you  :  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto 
you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled!”*  How 
grand  this  figure  is,  my  brethren,  how  holy,  how 
pure  !  How  every  conscience  is  arrested  and 
trembles  before  Him. 

I  am  seeking  for  a  point  whence  we  can  have  a 
last  look  before  leaving  Him.  But  do  not  fear 
that  I  shall  disparage  others  in  order  to  aggran¬ 
dise  Him.  Far  from  it.  If  you  wish  to  contem¬ 
plate  the  monarch  of  our  mountains  in  all  His 
glory,  you  quit  the  valley,  you  ascend  the  slopes 
of  the  Jura,  and  the  higher  you  rise  the  better  you 
will  see  the  gilded  summit  of  the  king,  triumph¬ 
antly  elevated  and  isolated  in  his  sublime  majesty. 
Then  when  you  have  attained  the  most  elevated 
spot,  you  will  say — “This  is  the  place,  let  us  stay 
here.” 

I  also  will  quit  the  flat  country  where  the  crowd 
is  moving,  and  seek  the  heights.  I  will  draw 

*  John  xiv.  27. 


102 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


near  to  some  of  those  great  and  noble  minds,  whose 
names  are  preserved  among  men  with  just  respect; 
and,  struck  with  their  beauty,  I  begin  to  love  and 
admire  them  enthusiastically.  Then  I  make 
choice  among  them.  I  pause  before  two  or  three 
of  the  most  illustrious,  amongst  whom  I  distin¬ 
guish  one  that  attracts  me  the  most.  It  is  the 
sage  of  Greece,  the  master  of  Plato.  There  is 
something  in  this  man,  who  spent  seventy  years 
in  struggling  with  a  rebel  nature,  whose  conscience 
served  him  as  a  law,  and  who  with  a  most 
unprepossessing  exterior,  subjugated  a  people 
enamoured  of  beauty,  solely  by  the  beauty  of  his 
mind ;  there  is  something  which  speaks  to  my 
heart ;  I  should  like  to  have  known  him,  to  have 
told  him  that  I  loved  him.  I  will  go  straight  to 
him,  and,  seated  at  his  feet,  with  so  many  noble 
disciples  on  the  steps  of  the  Prytaneum,  I  say  to 
myself,  this  is  the  place  for  contemplating  the  form 
of  the  Holy  One  and  the  Just.  O  Socrates  !  why 
wast  thou  not  born  five  centuries  later,  that  I  might 
direct  thy  steps  as  well  as  my  own  towards  this 


THE  HOLY  ONE  AND  THE  JUST. 


103 


unique  model  of  greatness  and  peace.  How 
would’st  thou,  who  groaned  during  thy  life-time 
on  account  of  thy  miseries  and  imperfections, 
have  contained  thy  admiration  in  the  presence 
of  this  perfect  Being,  in  the  presence  of  man,  such 
as  He  is  in  God,  with  God,  and  in  the  likeness  of 
God? 

Thou  who  despaired  of  success  in  thy  noble 
design,  so  nobly  pursued,  of  reforming  the  morals 
of  a  handful  of  thy  contemporaries,  what  would’st 
thou  have  said  when  this  Spirit  was  presented  to 
thy  mind — the  repairer  of  all  breaches,  radiating 
light  from  His  heart  as  from  an  inextinguishable 
focus,  to  penetrate  all  hearts,  and  to  transform 
them  from  glory  to  glory  into  the  likeness  of  His 
adorable  image  ?  Ah  !  would  not  thy  knees  have 
bent,  as  one  day  the  knees  of  all  will  bend  before 
Him,  who  does  not  cease  to  draw  all  men  unto 
Him? 

And  we,  my  brethren,  who  have  known  Him 
so  long,  but  have  perhaps  misunderstood  Him, 
will  not  our  eyes  be  opened  ?  Shall  we  refuse 


104 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 


Him  the  homage  He  demands  ?  The  homage 
He  demands  is  the  homage  of  our  hearts,  which 
He  will  glorify  and  sanctify  by  His  spirit.  He  is 
a  man ;  let  us  not  forget  this.  What  is  His  is 
ours.  His  greatness,  His  holiness,  His  peace  is 
ours,  as  His  God  is  ours.  It  is  for  us  to  raise 
ourselves  to  the  fulness  of  the  stature  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  is  the  glorious  calling  of  the 
Christian,  by  the  twofold  work  of  faith  and  re¬ 
generation.  Amen  ! 


III. 

Cfie  agan  of  ^ortoto.s. 

“A  Man  of  Sorrows.” — Isaiah  liii.  3. 

IMAGINE,  my  brethren,  the  days  of  the  Son 
of  Man  flowing  calmly  on  in  the  course  of  a 

9 

happy  existence ;  imagine  Him  culling  the  flowers 
of  life  along  His  path,  quenching  His  thirst  at 
every  spring,  reposing  in  the  shade,  and  attaining 
at  last  the  hoary  summits  of  old  age,  only  to 
behold  His  sun  set  in  glory  at  the  end  of  a 
cloudless  day — you  will  have  annihilated  Him. 
You  will  have  made  Him  but  share  the  common 
lot,  and  at  the  same  time  you  will  have  deprived 
Him  of  all  His  rights  and  titles.  Although  He 


I 


1 06 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


might  cry:  “Look  unto  me,”  henceforth  no  one 
would  deign  to  turn  round  to  ask  who  He  is. 

Having  claimed  righteousness,  perfect  righteous¬ 
ness,  for  His  character,  to-day,  by  a  natural  transi¬ 
tion,  we  shall  claim  suffering  as  His  destiny,  and 
we  will  say  at  once,  the  perfection  of  suffering. 

If  no  man  can  say  to  Him  :  “  I  am  better  than 
Thou,”  neither  must  any  man  be  able  to  say  to 
Him  :  “  I  have  suffered  more  than  Thou  hast.” 

If  you  reflect  a  moment,  you  will  soon  see  that 
these  two  requirements  have  more  relation  to  each 
other  than  at  first  sight  appears.  When  sin 
appeared  upon  earth,  God  immediately  drew 
sorrow  out  of  His  treasuries.  With  a  wisdom 
which  transcends  our  thoughts,  He  gave  it  a 
double  end.  He  first,  doubtless,  made  it  the 
wages  of  sin,  but  He  afterwards  made  a  crown  of 
it,  to  adorn  the  head  of  humiliated  righteousness. 
I  know  not  what  would  have  replaced  it  in  an 
abode  of  innocence.  I  know  not  what  halo  might 
have  shone  resplendent  around  perfect  holiness 
there.  But  this  I  do  know,  that  in  a  world  where 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


107 


evil  reigns,  it  is  from  the  hands  of  suffering  that 
holiness  receives  her  supreme  consecration ;  so 
much  so,  that  if  it  ever  attains  the  highest 
exaltation  it  will  only  be  by  being  crucified. 

This  was  so  well  understood  by  the  sages 
of  antiquity,  that  Plato,  wishing  to  represent 
righteousness  incarnate  in  a  truly  holy  man, 
expressed  himself  in  these  terms :  “  Let  him  be 
despoiled  of  everything,  even  of  the  semblance  of 
righteousness,  and  only  righteousness  itself  be 
left  him.  Irreproachable,  let  him  be  suspected  of 
every  crime.  Let  us  test  his  virtue.  I  would 
expose  him  to  infamy  and  its  torments.  But  let 
him  walk  with  a  firm  step  to  the  tomb,  en¬ 
compassed  by  false  accusations,  yet  still  virtuous. 
Let  him  be  beaten  with  rods,  subjected  to  chains 
and  torture,  and  after  having  endured  all  these 
sufferings,  let  him  expire  at  last  upon  a  cross.” 

Thus  does  the  conscience  of  mankind  express 
itself  by  the  organ  of  genius.  It  demands  that 
the  Holy  One  and  the  Just  shall  be  baptized  by 
the  name  of  the  “  Man  of  Sorrows.” 


ioS 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 


And  this  programme,  drawn  up  by  a  heathen 
four  centuries  before  Christ,  corresponds  so  well 
with  His  history,  that,  called  upon  in  this  third 
discourse  to  show  you  the  greatness  of  the  Son  of 
Man  by  the  greatness  of  His  sufferings,  I  am 
almost  tempted  to  take  it  for  the  basis  of  my 
discourse,  and,  with  your  permission,  to  preach 
upon  a  text  from  Plato. 

You  will  agree  that  this  will  be  to  conform 
strictly  to  the  spirit  of  these  discourses,  in  which 
I  undertake  to  glorify  my  Saviour  by  showing  you 
the  perfection  of  His  works  simply  by  the  per¬ 
fection  of  His  humanity.  Only  the  execution  will 
surpass  the  programme,  and  do  not  be  surprised 
at  this ;  for  to  this  accumulation  of  ills  which  the 
Athenian  philosopher  has  heaped  upon  the  head 
of  his  righteous  man,  to  subject  him  to  a 
decisive  trial,  one  thing  is  wanting. 

He  has  given  free  scope  to  his  imagination  in 
inventing  the  most  atrocious  situations,  he  has 
created  tortures  and  monsters  to  load  him  with 
suffering;  but  he  could  not  add  the  final  touch 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


109 


to  what  He  really  suffered  •  who  was  to  be  made 
perfect  through  suffering.  The  Spirit  of  God 
alone  could  predict  what  Christ  must  needs 
suffer. 

Nevertheless,  let  us  borrow  three  traits  from 
the  remarkable  picture  which  I  have  just  shown 
you,  and  we  shall  see  how  absolutely  they  were 
realised,  and  in  a  way  impossible  to  be  foreseen, 
in  the  tragic  history  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

Plato  proposes  that  his  righteous  man  should 
be  despoiled  of  everything,  in  order  that  his  virtue 
alone  should  appear. 

He  proposes  that  he  should  be  the  victim  of  a 
furious  persecution,  unjust  and  victorious,  in 
order  that  his  virtue  may  be  brought  out  in  most 
striking  contrast.  He  proposes  that  he  should 
be  subjected  to  infamy  and  its  torments,  doubtless 
in  order  that  his  triumphant  virtue  may  efface 
the  infamy;  in  other  words,  expiate  it  by  sub¬ 
mitting  to  its  tortures. 

There  certainly  is  in  this  a  threefold  trial  which 
constitute  a  complete  proof.  And  in  conducting 


I  IO 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


the  enquiry,  the  solemnity  of  which  you  will 
admit,  we  shall  rapidly  review  the  career  of  the 
Son  of  Man,  to  assure  ourselves  that  He  really 
did  suffer  all  those  things  which  it  was  necessary 
that  He  should  suffer. 

The  first  point  is  that  He  should  be  despoiled 
of  everything. 

Following  the  plan  I  have  laid  down,  I  shall 
not  mention  that  greatest  of  all  deprivations 
which  contains  the  germ  of  all  the  rest,  and 
which  is  expressed  by  St.  Paul  in  the  words  : 
“  Who  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not 
robbery  to  be  equal  with  God ;  but  made  himself 
of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of 
a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of 
men.”*  We  take  no  account  of  that  voluntary 
deprivation  which  is  called  the  incarnation. 

He  is  a  man,  and  must  accept  humanity,  pure 
and  simple,  as  the  point  of  departure.  The 
destitution  of  Bethlehem  is  only  the  sign  by 

*  Phil.  ii.  6,  7. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


1 1 1 


which  we  know  Him.  “And  this  shall  be  a  sign 
unto  you,  ye  shall  find  the  babe  wrapped  in 
swaddling  clothes,  and  lying  in  a  manger.”* 
Neither  will  I  speak  of  His  childhood  passed  in 
deprivation  and  obscurity.  But  there  must  often 
have  been  a  painful  contrast  between  His  aspira¬ 
tions  and  the  obtuseness  of  those  around  Him. 

The  first  time  that  He  spoke  to  Joseph  and 
Mary  of  the  occupation  with  His  Father’s 
business  which  began  to  engross  His  mind,  the 
Evangelist  tells  us  that  they  understood  Him  not. 

How  often  must  He  have  been  conscious  of 
that  absolute  isolation  to  which  His  thoughts 
condemned  Him,  in  the  midst  of  His  relations  ! 
What  a  travail  there  must  have  been  in  His  soul, 
bearing  upon  the  question  of  His  life,  without  its 
being  possible  that  any  one  should,  I  do  not 
say  guide,  but  even  comprehend  Him  !  But 
the  obscurity  of  Nazareth  was  only  a  pre¬ 
paration  for  Him,  and  it  really  seems  as  if  He 
was  subjected  to  it  for  thirty  years  in  order  to 


*  Luke  ii.  12. 


1 12 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


give  His  name  the  infallible  opprobrium  of  an 
unfortunate  origin.  Woe  to  him  who  comes  from 
a  place  with  a  bad  name !  Woe  to  Him  who 
comes  from  Nazareth  ! 

It  appears  as  if  He  was  to  be  despoiled  of 
everything  on  His  entrance  into  life,  that  would 
have  created  an  impression  in  His  favour. 

Search  around  Him  for  any  spot  that  is  not 
devastated ;  search  in  His  life,  I  do  not  say  for 
anything  superfluous,  but  the  bare  necessaries  of 
earthly  happiness  which  are  spared  to  the  most 
desolate.  That  hearth  where  the  poorest  of  the 
poor  finds  consolation  for  the  desolation  without. 

I  will  explain  my  meaning. 

To  understand  the  deprivation  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  we  must  cast  aside  all  ordinary  notions  of 
riches  and  greatness,  and  begin  by  getting  rid  of 
“  that  illusion  about  apparent  good,  of  that  foolish 
and  ridiculous  belief  that  exists  in  every  heart, 
that  happiness  consists  in  those  external  things 
which  we  call  honour,  riches,  and  pleasure.”  It 

✓ 

is  from  Bossuet  that  I  quote.  He  says  again : 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


1 13 

“  Man  finds  himself  so  shut  up  and  limited,  that 
his  pride  is  mortified  at  finding  himself  confined  to 
such  narrow  limits  ;  so  as  he  can  add  neither  to  his 
height  nor  bulk,  he  tries  to  satisfy  his  vain  imagina¬ 
tion  of  greatness  by  amassing  as  much  as  he  can 
around  him.  He  fancies,  so  to  speak,  that  he  incor¬ 
porates  with  himself  all  the  riches  that  he  acquires.” 

This  is  what  causes  us  to  be  specially  affected 
by  privation  of  earthly  possessions,  and  which 
leads  us  to  think  that  the  earthly  deprivation  of  the 
Son  of  Man  consisted  in  His  poverty.  It  is  affect¬ 
ing  to  think  that  He  had  neither  patrimony  nor 
property,  nor  provision  for  the  future,  and  that 
His  condition  was  that  which  we  consider  so 
pitiable  among  the  poor. 

But  He  who  reminded  His  disciples  how  God 
feedeth  the  birds  of  the  air,  and  clotheth  the  grass 
of  the  field,  and  who  added,  with  divine  wisdom  : 
“Take  no  thought,  saying,  what  shall  we  eat,  or 
what  shall  we  drink  ?  for  after  all  these  things  do 
the  Gentiles  seek ;  ”*  He  who  taught  them  to  ask 

*  Matt.  vi.  31,  32. 

I 


Si  14 


THE  SON  OF  MAN, . 


day  by  day  their  daily  bread,  had  other  ideas  than 
ours,  and  it  would  be  doing  Him  injustice  to 
count  among  the  number  of  His  sorrows  and  pri¬ 
vations  the  absence  of  those  luxuries  of  well-being 
with  which  we  encumber  our  existence. 

But,  besides  this,  is  there  not  a  satisfaction  in 
our  daily  bread,  a  natural  and  legitimate  compen¬ 
sation  for  the  fatigues  of  life,  which  seems  denied 
to  no  one  here  below  ?  The  labourer  who  gains 
his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  finds  his  wife 
and  children  around  his  miserable  hearth  after  his 
daily  toil ;  his  countenance  brightens,  his  heart 
expands,  all  his  being  relaxes.  He  reposes  for  a 
time  by  the  side  of  his  rough  path  under  the 
shadow  which  God  has  prepared  for  him.  He 
has  his  cup  of  cold  water  in  the  desert  of  life. 
The  man  who  devotes  himself  to  the  noble 
labours  of  the  mind,  is  consoled  for  sorrow  and 
illusion  by  being  absorbed  in  meditation.  The 
storm  rages  without;  his  fields  are  devastated, 
his  hopes  destroyed ;  but  he  enters  into  his  study 
as  into  a  sanctuary,  and  having  made  an  effort  to 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


absorb  himself  in  his  favourite  studies,  he  forgets 
the  whole  world,  forgets  himself,  and  succeeds  in 
cheating  his  heart  by  the  austere  satisfactions  of 
the  mind.  He  has  a  place  where  to  lay  his  head. 

Look  where  you  will  among  human  lives,  and 
show  me  one  man  who  has  not  his  secret  resource, 
his  retreat,  his  last  resort,  if  you  will ;  some  spot 
or  other  where  he  can  find  rest  for  the  sole  of  his 
foot. 

We  are  all  something  like  the  dove  after 
the  flood  had  devastated  the  earth,  and  who  had 
to  find  a  new  resting-place.  But  it  need  not  be 
that  she  find  again  the  fragrant  bowers  which 
were  formerly  her  predilection.  A  point  of  rock, 
a  branch,  a  ruin  is  enough  for  her  to  rest  her 
wing.  We  should  have  to  enter  into  the  details 

I  * 

of  a  humiliating  and  melancholy  vulgarity  to 
explain,  what  in  default  of  other  things  may 
suffice  as  a  solace  for  the  mind  of  man  in  this 
vale  of  tears.  But  high  or  low,  broad  or  narrow, 
noble  or  vulgar,  whatever  it  be,  you  will  not  find 
any  solace  in  the  life  of  the  Son  of  Man. 


ii6 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


He  sat  at  the  tables  of  the  rich,  He  entered 
many  hospitable  abodes,  the  towns  and  villages 
opened  their  gates  to  Him,  nature  herself  .was 
transformed  into  a  palace  to  lodge  Him,  and  a 
table  to  feed  Him ;  but  retreat  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word,  a  solace  for  His  soul  He  had  not. 
And  this  is  what  He  meant  when  He  said  with  a 
deeper  meaning  than  at  first  appears :  “  The 
foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have 
nests,  but  the  Son  of  Man  hath  not  where  to  lay 
his  head.”* 

And  why  was  this,  my  brethren  ?  For  a  very 
simple  reason ;  because  the  pre-occupation  of 
His  mind  did  not  permit  Him  to  think  of  earthly 
things.  The  work  to  which  He  devoted  Himself 
was  incompatible  with  any  of  the  refreshments  of 
our  pilgrimage.  Domestic  joys,  artistic  culture, 
profound  study,  every  solace  which  we  have  in 
our  lives,  would  have  been  for  Him  a  distraction 
and  a  defection.  It  was  necessary  that  He  should 
sacrifice  everything,  and  He  did  sacrifice  everything. 


*  Matt.  viii.  20. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORRO  WS.  1 1 7 

But  His  disciples,  you  will  say.  After  all,  is  not 
the  best  solace  that  man  can  find  on  earth,  the 
affection  of  His  fellow  men  ?  To  be  understood, 
to  feel  that  another  is  sharing  with  you  the  weight 
of  the  thought  which  oppresses  you.  Oh,  what  a 
relief.  It  is  not  essential,  as  you  know,  that 
sympathy  should  come  from  above ;  it  is  the 
charm  of  this  admirable  consoler,  that  the  weakest 
can  offer  it  to  the  greatest  and  the  strongest. 
Had  not  Jesus  the  Twelve?  Doubtless.'  But 
when  did  they  touch  His  burden  with  one  of  their 
fingers  ?  “  God  forbid  !  ”  they  exclaimed  in  as¬ 

tonishment. 

The  Twelve  with  their  carnal  hopes,  their 
dreams  so  naive  that  they  excite  a  smile ;  the 
Twelve  who  disputed  about  the  first  places  in 
some  imaginary  kingdom ;  the  Twelve  who,  until 
a  long  time  afterwards,  did  not  understand  that 
He  was  preparing  them  for  the  future. 

During  His  life  it  was  He  who  supported  them, 
and  He  never  knew  what  it  was  to  rest  upon 
them.  Once  only  He  called  upon  them  to  watch 


T  1 8 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


and  pray  with  Him ;  you  will  remember  it  was  in 
Gethsemane.  His  human  heart  thirsted  for 
human  sympathy,  distant,  imperfect  as  it  might 
be.  Three  times,  counting  upon  them,  He  found 
them  sleeping  on  His  pillow  of  agony.  Troubled, 
disconcerted,  by  the  little  that  they  had  seen  and 
heard,  they  felt  nothing  but  insurmountable 
fatigue ;  a  striking  testimony  to  the  absolute 
isolation  in  which,  in  the  depths  of  His  soul,  the 
Son  of  Man  had  always  felt  Himself  amongst 
them.  No,  if  He  had  no  place  where  to  lay  His 
head,  neither  was  there  any  heart  on  which  His 
heart  could  repose. 

But  hope,  you  will  say  again,  hope  is  also  a 
solace  for  man.  It  is  the  consolation  of  those 
who  have  no  other.  Could  not  Jesus  console 
Himself  for  the  afflictions  that  He  endured,  by 
the  prospect  of  the  satisfaction  to  which  they 
tended  ?  Humanly  speaking,  the  contrary  was 
the  case.  All  the  power  of  foresight  that  He 
possessed,  could  only  disclose  to  Him  in  the 
future,  deceit,  darkness,  and  catastrophe. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS.  119 

\ 

The  Son  of  Man  has  been  represented  as  sus¬ 
tained  at  first  by  enthusiasm,  and  embittered  at 
last  by  dis-illusion.  This  is  a  profound  and 
twofold  error,  which  gratuitously  ascribes  our 
weakness  to  Him,  and  it  cannot  be  sustained 
by  facts  for  a  moment.  Is  it  possible  that 
He,  who  knew  the  hearts  and  prejudices  of  the 
people  so  well,  could  have  looked  for  temporal 
success ;  that  He  could  have  imagined  a  triumph, 
an  achievement  of  His  work,  in  which  He  could 
have  reposed  in  peace  before  His  death  ?  Do 
you  not  feel  that  this  would  be  to  make  a  puerile 
visionary  of  Him,  a  dreamer  from  the  other 
world?  No.  He  knew  well,  and  no  one  knew 
it  so  well  as  He,  that  humanly  speaking,  His 
enterprise  was  a  desperate  one.  He  knew  that 
He  should  find  insurmountable  obstacles.  He 
knew  that  the  chiefs  of  the  people  would  be 
against  Him,  that  the  inconstant  populace  would 
forsake  Him,  that  His  disciples  would  abandon 
Him,  that  His  enemies  would  get  the  advantage 
of  Him,  and  would  one  day  load  Him  with  the 


120 


THE  SON  OF  MAN . 


double  weight  of  their  contempt  and  hatred. 
Will  you  hear  from  His  own  lips  the  expression 
of  His  hopes  ?  “The  good  shepherd,”  He  said, 
“  giveth  his  life  for  the  sheep.”*  “  Except  a  corn 
of  wheat  fall  unto  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth 
alone. ”t  “The  Son  of  Man  shall  be  betrayed  into 
the  hands  of  sinful  men,  and  they  shall  kill  him.”J 
These  were  the  prospects  with  which  His  soul 
was  nourished.  While  His  disciples  at  His  side 
were  dreaming  of  crowns,  He  saw  more  and  more 
plainly  a  cross  preparing  for  Him.  His  hour 
(every  man  is  expecting  the  golden  hour,  which 
may  or  may  not  come,  but  the  hope  of  which 
sustains  him  nevertheless),  you  know  what  Jesus 
called  His  hour — His  hour,  towards  which  He 
had  marched  with  a  firm  and  unhesitating  step, 
arrived  at  last.  All  that  He  had  foreseen,  all 
the  solitude  and  sorrow  that  He  had  scented 
afar  off,  was  suddenly  realised. 

He  could,  doubtless,  if  He  had  wished  it,  have 
made  a  place  for  Himself  upon  the  earth,  He 
*  John  x.  ii.  f  John  xii.  24.  I  Matt.  xvii.  22,  23. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


1 2 1 


might  have  established  Himself  as  other  men 
establish  themselves  in  life.  Imagination  calls 
up  a  thousand  tranquil  destinies,  approved,  pro¬ 
tected,  rich  in  sweet  affection,  in  legitimate  satis¬ 
faction,  honours  perhaps,  that  a  moment  of 
hesitation  might  have  opened  to  Him.  He  re¬ 
nounced  them  all ;  He  was  destitute  of  every- 

t 

thing.  It  makes  one  giddy  to  see  Him  alone 
on  those  solitary  heights.  We  cry  out  in  despair 
when  the  world  seems  desolate,  and  the  future 
closes  before  us.  But  what  are  our  most  desperate 
situations  compared  with  His  ? 

Poor,  sick,  mourners,  all  you  who  are  dis¬ 
heartened  and  disinherited,  come  and  count  your 
riches  in  comparison  with  the  destitution  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  Look  well  around  Him.  What 
remains  to  Him  ?  His  soul,  certainly,  His  soul 
intact,  His  holiness  (of  which  I  tried  in  vain  the 
other  day  to  give  you  a  faint  idea),  but  His  soul 
absolutely  stripped  of  everything  in  order  that 
it  might  appear  before  us  clothed  with  His 
righteousness  alone. 


122 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


Still  all  this  is  what  I  call  the  negative  side  of 
the  sufferings  of  the  Son  of  Man.  It  is  simply 
that  He  did  not  possess  earthly  happiness.  To 
what  blows,  to  what  external  storms  was  He 
exposed  ? 

Sooner  or  later,  everyone  here  below  is  called 
to  measure  himself  with  adversity.  Our  first 
steps  in  the  path  of  life  lead  us  into  an  enemy’s 
country.  We  no  sooner  open  our  eyes  in  the 

V  y 

world  than  hostilities  begin.  We  fall  into  snares, 
we  are  hemmed  in  on  every  side.  One  is 
struck  down  on  our  right  hand,  another  on  our 
left.  It  is  impossible  to  retrace  our  steps,  we 
must  go  on.  Soon  all  around  us  are  wounded, 
languishing,  dying.  And  what  an  infinite  variety 
of  wounds,  O  my  companions  in  suffering  !  if  you 
were  to  recount  your  own  and  those  which  you 
see  around  you.  Who  has  not  a  sad  lugubrious 
story  to  tell,  too  often  that  of  his  own  life.  Wealth 
destroyed,  hearts  wounded,  physical  pain,  moral 
suffering,  sword  thrusts,  envenomed  stings,  lives 
struck  down  by  the  thunder-bolt,  broken  by  the 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


123 


storm,  gnawed  at  the  heart  by  a  destroying 
worm ! 

Among  all  the  woes  to  which  we  are  exposed, 
from  which  we  are  suffering  to-day,  or  may  be 
to-morrow,  which  can  aspire  to  be  compared  with 
His  ?  Everyone  brings  his  own  grief  here,  no 
doubt,  thinking  it  the  greatest.  You  will  agree 
that  no  one  could  be  subjected  to  all  at  once. 
But  here  is  sorrow,  if  you  consider  it  well,  that 
unites  in  itself  the  bitterest  woes ;  that  which 
Plato  selected,  as  possessing  so  complete  and 
absolute  a  character  that  it  leaves  nothing  to  be 
desired.  We  shall  see  Him  exposed  to  the  most 
unjust,  cruel,  triumphant  persecution,  seasoned 
by  the  blackest  treason,  accompanied  by  the 
most  atrocious  circumstances,  crowned  by  the 
greatest  outrages  during  the  horrors  of  the  final 
sufferings.  And  to  add  the  last  drop  to  the 
bitterness  of  this  cup,  it  was  necessary  that  by 
the  very  benefits  He  conferred,  He  should  make 
Himself  in  some  sort  the  artificer  of  His  own 
calamities.  It  is  quite  in  order  that  the  sins  of 


124 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


the  wicked  should  fall  upon  their  own  heads,  and 
bring  about  the  tragic  results  of  their  career  of 
vice.  But  this  is  a  hew  result  of  a  beneficent 
life.  This  time  it  is  the  treasures  of  mercy 
itself,  prodigally  showered  around  Him  by  the 
Holy  One  and  the  Just,  which  are  gathered  to¬ 
gether  in  the  heavens  in  a  fearful  storm  of  ven¬ 
geance  and  blood.  Behold  this  Sower  who  goes 
on  His  way,  spreading  abroad  compassion,  health, 
and  consolation,  in  order  to  see  suspicion,  calumny, 
treason,  and  cruelty  arising  around  Him.  Soon 
this  harvest  will  grow  and  stifle  Him.  Inde¬ 
fatigable  benefactor,  He  will  perish,  crushed  by 
the  weight  of  His  own  benefits ;  the  messenger 
of  salvation,  crucified  by  the  hands  of  those 
whom  He  snatches  from  perdition.  Shall  I  re¬ 
late  this  history  to  you  ?  Before  undertaking 
it,  there  is  one  thought  to  which  I  cannot  refrain 
from  drawing  your  attention.  Nothing  is  arbitrary 
in  the  history  of  the  Son  of  Man ;  everything  in 
it  reveals  a  profound  logic,  which  illuminates 
every  portion  of  the  field  of  truth.  It  has  been 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


125 


asked,  whether  this  disease,  which  has  so  eaten 
into  the  vitals  of  humanity  that  it  is  impossible 
to  contest  its  presence,  whether  sin  is  really  as 
we  proclaim  it  to  be,  a  revolt  against  the  laws 
of  goodness ;  if  it  is  a  fact  that  the  creature  has 
wandered  from  the  right  path,  and  is  in  a  state 
of  permanent  revolt  against  the  will  of  the 
Creator,  or  whether  sin  may  not  be  regarded  as 
a  simple  imperfection,  necessary  but  transitory, 
from  which  man  may  aspire  to  rid  himself  by  a 
judicious  exercise  of  his  own  powers;  a  sort  of 
twilight  between  the  impenetrable  darkness  of  the 
past,  and  the  full  light  of  day  towards  which,  with 
slow  but  sure  steps,  he  is  advancing.  It  has  been 
asked,  whether  it  is  necessary  to  have  recourse 
to  all  this  process  of  sacrifice,  redemption,  and 
regeneration,  to  reconcile  man  with  his  God. 
Reconcile  !  Ah  !  who  says  that  he  is  not  already 
reconciled.  Let  us  leave  these  hard  words  alone. 
Let  us  take  things  more  simply.  Let  us  have  a 
little  regard  to  the  weakness  and  frailty  of  the 
creature,  give  him  a  pattern,  a  support,  lend  him 


126 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


a  hand,  shew  him  the  end  of  the  way,  and  you 
will  see  with  what  a  firm  and  joyous  step  he  will 

pursue  that  noble  path  which  leads  to  perfection. 

»  \ 

Here  then  is  the  pattern.  What  do  you  say  to 
it?  It  is  the  Holy  One  and  the  just.  People 
will  surely  assemble  around  Him,  applaud  and 
follow  Him.  First,  those  most  advanced  in  the 
path  of  morality,  the  Pharisees,  the  Scribes,  the 
doctors  of  the  law,  who  in  their  turn  will  draw 
others  after  them,  down  to  the  lowest  scale  of 
the  ladder.  If  there  is  any  hesitation  at  first, 
He  will  be  more  beloved  and  respected  as  He 
becomes  better  known.  It  is  but  truth  and  pro¬ 
gress  that  men  are  seeking;  we  must  look  for 
ever-increasing  enthusiasm  and  adhesion  to  Him. 
They  will  transport  Him  from  Galilee  to  Jeru¬ 
salem  in  order  to  make  the  light  more  conspicuous, 
and  there  no  doubt  they  will  enthrone  Him. 

I  appeal  to  every  candid  man,  to  every  well- 
constituted  mind,  is  not  this  the  course  things 
ought  to  have  taken,  and  which  it  seemed  as  if 
they  must  inevitably  take  ?  Explain,  then,  how 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


127 


it  was  that  precisely  the  contrary  took  place  ? 
Explain  how  it  was  that  when  light  came  into 
the  world,  it  was  not  received  ?  Explain  how 
it  was  that  in  proportion  as  the  perfection  of  the 
model  was  recognised,  He  was  left  alone,  and 
the  more  He  convinced  all  hearts,  the  higher 
did  the  flood  of  persecution  arise  to  engulf  Him. 
Explain  how  it  was  that  they  finally  crucified 
the  Holy  One  and  the  Just,  instead  of  adoring 
Him.  It  is  not  a  fact  suspended  as  it  were  in 

the  air,  there  must  be  a  cause  for  it.  And  what 

\ 

was  this  cause,  if  it  was  not  a  revolt  of  the  heart, 
which  would  not  be  troubled,  as  it  walked  in  the 
ways  of  perdition,  until  it  was  broken,  changed 
and  brought  back  by  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation. 

We  will  put  the  spirit  of  the  Holy  One  and  the 
Just  to  the  test,  by  observing  how  He  bore  the 
most  unjust  persecution.  In  order  that  this  dis¬ 
pensation  should  be  complete,  it  was  necessary 
that  it  should  begin  by  the  contrary.  Thus,  you 
see,  that  at  first,  the  Son  of  Man  was  approved. 


128 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


John  the  Baptist,  the  revered  prophet,  bore  witness 
to  Him.  “This  is  he,”  he  cried,  “of  whom  I  said, 
After  me  cometh  a  man  which  is  preferred  before 
me,  whose  shoe’s  latchet  I  am  not  worthy  •  to 
unloose.”*  Some  sincere  disciples  attached  them¬ 
selves  to  Him,  and  left  all  to  follow  Him.  His 
first  journeys  in  Galilee  seem  only  to  presage  an 
easy  triumph.  Multitudes,  touched  by  the  benefits 
He  conferred,  and  thirsting  for  His  words,  assem¬ 
bled  around  Him.  Even  those  who  felt  the  first 
symptoms  of  resistance  arising  in  their  hearts, 
agreed  that  never  man  spake  like  this  man ;  and 
if  they  threatened  more  than  once  to  suffocate 
Him,  it  was  only  with  empressement  and  enthu¬ 
siasm  ;  the  multitudes  once  even  concerted  to 
proclaim  Him  king,  and  He  only  escaped  a  veritable 
ovation  by  hiding  Himself  and  withdrawing,  to 
pass  long  hours  in  prayer  alone  on  a  mountain. 

But  soon  one  group  grew  cool  and  forsook 
Him;  then  another  and  another;  a  camp  of  adver¬ 
saries,  or  rather  of  conspirators,  was  formed 

#  John  i.  27,  30. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


129 


against  Him;  it  increased  daily;  the  crowd  of 
admirers  vanished,  and  was  gradually  succeeded 
by  the  exasperated  crowd  of  His  executioners. 

We  will  observe  them  as  they  pass  one  after 
the  other;  it  is  quite  a  cortege. 

The  Pharisees  at  the  head — you  know  why; 
they  are  the  elite  of  the  nation,  the  leaders  of 
opinion.  They  take  umbrage  at  this  new  comer; 
and,  being  types  of  self-righteousness  incarnate, 
they  feel  their  pride  especially  condemned  and 
their  hypocrisy  unmasked  by  the  implacable  sin¬ 
cerity  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Master.  Despairing 
of  attaching  Him  to  their  ranks,  they  combine  to 
crush  Him  with  the  cold  cruelty  of  a  party  against 
an  individual,  and  the  concentrated  rage  of  the 
strong  against  the  weak.  Wherever  they  meet 
Him,  war  is  declared — war  to  the  death,  and 
without  quarter.  Afterwards  come  the  Sadducees 
— the  materialists  of  that  age — the  men  of  plea¬ 
sure,  the  sceptics  of  loose  morals.  They  form  an 
unnatural  alliance  with  the  fanatics  and  insincere 
devotees  to  annihilate  their  common  enemy;  for 

K 


13° 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


i 


He  came  to  interfere  with  their  comfortable 
philosophy  and  their  voluptuous  lives,  by  speaking 
to  them  of  judgment  and  justice,  while  He  dis¬ 
played  the  accusing  light  of  true  holiness  before 
their  eyes.  After  these  come  the  rich,  the  chief 
men,  the  people  of  importance,  who  see  them¬ 
selves  placed  by  Him  in  the  alternative  of  re¬ 
nouncing  either  themselves  or  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  At  first  they  withdrew  in  sadness,  like 
the  young  man  in  the  Gospel,  but  returned  furious 
and  exasperated  against  Him  who  told  them  the 
parable  of  Lazarus  and  the  wicked  rich  man,  and 
who  thought  more  of  the  widow’s  mite  than  of 
their  ostentatious  charity.  Every  class  of  the 
nation  took  part  against  Him,  one  after  the  other. 
Even  among  the  common  people  whom  He  loved 
so  much,  among  whom  He  lived,  as  belonging  to 
their  ranks,  to  whom  He  spoke  His  most  tender 
words,  and  whom  He  loaded  with  His  richest 
benefits;  the  people — the  family,  as  it  were — pre¬ 
pared  to  receive  great  characters,  but  changeable 
and  fickle,  impulsive  both  in  enthusiasm  and 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


131 

hatred,  going  to  extremes  both  in  its  cruelties  and 
its  favours — there  were  those  even  among  the 
people,  who,  after  making  Him  one  day  their  idol, 
turned  against  Him  the  next,  to  heap  the  most 
wicked  outrages  upon  Him,  and  with  the  blindest 
fury  to  demand  His  death. 

All  is  now  ready.  The  victim  is  prepared. 
He  has  to  face  the  world,  which  is  risen  up  against 
Him,  alone.  Observe  the  organisation  of  the 
conspiracy;  follow  its  dark  doings;  listen  to  its 
murmurs.  The  last  scene  is  approaching.  The 
hour  is  come;  He  says  so  Himself.  Irreproachable, 
let  Him  be  suspected  of  every  crime.  Let  Him 
walk  with  a  firm  step  to  the  tomb  encompassed 
by  false  accusations,  but  still  virtuous  ! 

What  is  the  Son  of  Man  doing?  On  His  knees 
in  a  garden  of  olives,  during  the  shades  of  night, 
He  waits  in  prayer.  It  is  in  this  attitude  that  the 
fury  of  His  enemies  will  surprise  Him.  The 
disciples  whom  He  asked  to  watch  with  Him  one 
hour  are  asleep,  before  flying  like  sheep  from  the 
wolf.  One  alone  watches;  Judas — he  who  will 


132 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


give  the  signal  by  a  kiss,  which  is  a  greater  out¬ 
rage  than  the  spitting  in  the  judgment  hall. 

He  is  assailed  by  men  armed  with  staves.  He 
submits  like  a  lamb  led  to  the  slaughter.  Even 
those  who  come  to  take  Him  are  struck  by  His 
gentleness.  They  hesitate  a  moment,  then  return 
like  a  flood;  rush  upon  Him,  bind  Him,  drag  Him 
away,  and  make  Him  walk  to  the  palace  of  the 
High  Priest.  When  there — let  us  veil  our  faces 
my  brethren — oh !  scenes  of  shame  and  infamy,  too 
often  presented  to  us,  but  never  enough  pondered  in 
the  silence  of  our  hearts.  Oh !  the  height  of  wick¬ 
edness,  cowardice,  and  blindness.  Oh !  spectacle  of 
horror,  such  as  has  never  since  been  seen,  doubt¬ 
less  because  so  much  of  strength  and  meekness, 
of  grandeur  and  peace,  have  never  since  been  seen, 
as  were  displayed  in  those  dark  depths.  Humanity 
undertook  for  once  to  give  an  example  of  its 
infamy,  in  order  to  bring  out  the  unexampled 
sublimity  of  the  virtue  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

Now,  then,  you  who  have  your  part  to  play  in 
this  scene,  assemble  together  from  the  four  winds 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


133 


of  heaven — Pilate,  Herod,  Caiaphas,  kings  and 
priests,  senators  and  servants,  soldiers  of  the 
Pretorium,  the  dregs  of  the  people,  villains  con¬ 
demned  to  execution,  cowardice,  treason,  hypo¬ 
crisy,  cruelty,  all  the  monsters  to  which  sin  has 
given  birth;  bring  hither  your  sarcasms  and  instru¬ 
ments  of  torture,  come  and  cast  every  one  your 

stone  and  your  insult  at  the  Holy  Victim;  strike 

♦ 

Him  and  mock  Him,  throw  yourselves  at  His  feet, 
and  spit  in  His  face;  study  to  multiply  His  suffer¬ 
ings,  to  complicate  and  refine  them,  exclude  every 
possible  amelioration,  add  torture  to  torture;  let 
Him  not  be  crucified  until  He  has  been  scourged; 
let  Him  not  suffer  the  treatment  of  slaves,  until 
He  has  been  condemned  as  more  infamous  than 
the  worst  malefactor;  add  the  sting  of  irony  to 
your  cruelty;  pierce  His  heart  at  the  same  time 
that  you  pierce  His  shuddering  flesh;  in  your 
looks  and  words  let  Him  taste  a  gall  more  bitter 
than  that  with  which  you  moisten  His  dying  lips; 
heap  upon  His  head  such  an  accumulation  of 
tortures,  that  at  length  the  earth  trembles  and  the 


134 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


sun  veils  its  face  in  horror;  you  will  not  succeed 
in  exciting  in  His  loving  heart  anything  more  than 
fresh  depths  of  meekness  and  peace;  not  a  com¬ 
plaint,  never  a  word  of  discouragement,  never  a 
trace  of  bitterness,  never  the  shudder  of  restrained 
anger;  never  any  other  answer  to  your  atrocious 
provocations;  never  anything  but  the  unsurpass¬ 
able  expression  of  charity:  “ Father,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do !  ” 

Do  you  know  anything  of  the  heart  of  man, 
my  brethren?  It  is  a  den  of  lions.  They  often 
slumber,  but  when  pain  awakes  them,  though  the 
doors  may  be  closed,  the  prolonged  echo  of  their 
groans  may  be  heard  from  afar.  Suffering  never 
awakened  anything  in  the  heart  of  the  Son  of  Man 
but  what  the  Scriptures  in  their  expressive  lan-  1 
guage  so  admirably  call  the  Lamb  of  God. 

We  have  as  yet  only  presented  what  I  will  call 
the  exterior  side  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Son  of 
Man.  It  remains  to  penetrate,  if  possible,  into 
the  interior,  to  consider  another  aspect,  and  this 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


135 


time  the  real  aspect  of  what  has  been  so  well 
called  His  passion. 

The  first  thing  to  be  said  is,  that  all  that 
we  have  seen  heretofore  is  as  nothing  compared 
with  what  remains  to  be  contemplated.  This 

complete  desolation,  this  cruel  persecution,  this 
attack  on  a  defenceless  victim  by  hatred  and 
passion,  the  suffering  upon  the  cross,  of  which  I 
have  not  even  tried  to  depict  the  horrors,  all  this 
is  but  the  frame  of  the  picture,  not  the  picture 
itself.  The  bodily  pain,  great  as  it  was,  was  but 
an  envelope ;  it  is  in  the  mental  torture  that  we 
must  seek  for  the  essence,  the  real  cause  of  His 
sufferings. 

Experience  has  doubtless  taught  you  that  it  is 
in  our  hearts  that  we  suffer  the  most.  There  is 
a  limit  to  physical  pain.  It  does  not  seem  as 
if  there  were  any  to  mental  pain.  The  body 
dies,  when  the  measure  is  full.  There  is  an 
undying  part  of  us,  which  is  capable  of  enduring 
suffering  without  being  able  to  see  the  depth  or 
the  limit  of  it. 


136 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


A  martyr  in  early  times,  threatened  with 
the  most  frigditful  tortures,  answered  calmly : 
“  Threaten  me,  then,  with  something  more  ter¬ 
rible,  for  as  for  tortures  they  can  but  lead  me 
to  death,  which  I  await  as  a  blessing.”  Did  not 
Jesus  say  Himself:  “Fear  not  them  which  kill 
the  body?”  We  all  hold  this  in  the  main.  And 
it  is  not  one  of  the  least  signs  of  our  greatness, 
that  it  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  sufferings  infinitely 
greater  than  those  which  come  to  us  from  without, 
through  the  medium  of  the  senses.  Man  is  so 
constituted  that  he  can  sing  for  joy  on  a  funeral 
pile,  and  shed  burning  tears  in  the  abodes  of 
opulence ;  and  by  a  contradiction  which  has 
its  mysterious  aspect,  the  greater  the  mind,  the 
deeper  the  abyss  into  which  it  may  fall.  The 
power  of  suffering  being  thus  a  standard  of  the 
power  of  loving.  If,  then,  you  recur  to  the  Son 
of  Man,  you  will  easily  understand  how  it  was 
that  Ilis  mental  sufferings  were  greater  than 
those  of  any  other  man. 

We  will  pass  over  the  poignant  details  which 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


1 37 


present  themselves  at  every  step  in  the  path  of 
the  passion — the  sleep  of  the  disciples,  the  kiss 
of  Judas,  the  denial  of  Peter,  the  farewell  to  His 
mother.  These  are  but  the  thorns  of  the  crown. 
Let  us  go  to  the  centre,  and  fix  our  attention  on 
the  suffering  which  crowns  all  the  rest ;  that 
which  Plato  seems  to  have  vaguely  foreseen,  when 
he  says  of  his  ideal  righteous  man :  “  I  would 
expose  him  to  infamy  and  its  tortures and 
which  Holy  Scripture,  in  its  language  of  divine 
boldness  and  exact  precision,  expresses  in  these 
terms :  “He  was  made  sin  for  us  who  knew 
no  sin.”*  “Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins.”t 
“  Being  made  a  curse  for  us.”f 

Rest  assured,  my  brethren,  that  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  explain  a  mystery  to  you,  of  which 
the  angels  themselves  can  but,  as  it  were,  ap¬ 
proach  the  edge.  We  do  not  understand  it,  but 
we  may,  nevertheless,  gain  instruction  in  our 
efforts  to  comprehend  it.  We  are  on  the  edge 
of  an  abyss.  I  am  trying  to  find  a  path  which 
*  2  Cor.  v.  21.  f  i  Peter  ii.  24.  X  Galatians  iii.  13. 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


will  lead  us,  not  to  the  bottom,  but  from  which 
we  can  look  down  into  the  depths. 

You  are  acquainted  with  sympathy — that  virtue 

which  lightens  mental  burdens,  and  relieves  those 

who  are  in  danger  of  succumbing,  by  transferring 

% 

the  load  to  those  who  love  them.  It  enters 
into  the  number  of  our  sufferings,  but  only  in 
exact  proportion  to  our  love,  and  this  explains 
at  once,  why  it  generally  forms  so  small  a  pro¬ 
portion  of  them,  and  why  it  represents  immeasur¬ 
able  suffering  in  the  case  of  the  Son  of  Man.  If 
we  come  in  contact  with  a  profoundly  miserable 
being,  our  hearts  immediately  bleed  with  his  ; 

i  * 

but  such  is  the  marvellous  elasticity  of  our 
egotism,  that  even  at  the  moment  when  we  feel 
most  keenly,  we  are  inwardly  consoled  by  the 
thought,  that,  after  all,  it  does  not  affect  us, 
and  that  as  soon  as  we  have  turned  away,  other 
objects  will  arise  to  absorb  us  and  to  divert  our 
minds  from  painful  impressions.  We  remain  so 
short  a  time  under  the  weight  of  the  sufferings 
of  others,  and  dispose  so  lightly  and  naturally 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


139 


of  the  burden,  that  it  was  once  said  that  a  mind 
was  only  sympathetic  by  reason  of  and  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  its  mobility.  Our  sympathies  are  alms 
offered  in  passing,  precious  alms  no  doubt;  let 
us  not  despise  them,  what  have  we  better  to  give 
or  to  receive  ?  But  they  are  far  indeed  from  that 
gift  of  sacrifice,  that  permanent  gift  of  self,  the 
realisation  of  a  true  substitution. 

We  must  imagine  a  mind  really  perfect  and 
absolutely  deprived  of  all  consolation.  We  must 
imagine  sympathy  at  work,  without  any  possible 
counterpoise  of  egotism,  lightness,  or  lassitude. 
Does  it  not  appear  to  you  that  such  a  mind  will 
become  the  focus  in  which  all  griefs,  whether 
real  or  imaginary,  will  be  accumulated,  condensed, 
and  concentrated  ? 

O  my  Saviour !  when  I  see  Thee  troubled 
in  spirit  when  Thou  lookest  upon  one  of  those 
crowds,  the  sight  alone  of  which  recalls  to  Thy 
mind  the  infinitely  varied  sorrows  of  so  many 
other  crowds ;  when  I  see  Thy  eyes  fill  with 
tears  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  because  it  recalls 


140 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


to  Thee  the  tears  shed  by  so  many  others  at 
other  graves ;  when  on  the  way  to  the  cross 
I  hear  Thy  voice  betraying  compassion  for  the 
griefs  of  those  who  lament  for  Thee,  I  compre¬ 
hend  those  words  of  the  prophet,  so  profound 
even  in  their  simplicity:  “A  man  of  sorrows 
and  acquainted  with  grief.  Surely  He  hath 
borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows.”* 

It  is  in  this  especially,  that  the  fundamental 
difference  is  shown  between  our  sympathies  and 
those  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Because  we  are  not 
ourselves  holy,  we  fear  to  compromise  qjid  con¬ 
demn  ourselves  in  some  sort,  by  a  commiseration 
which  descends  to  the  impure  source  whence 
human  misery  flows.  We  pity  the  unfortunate; 
we  repulse  the  sinner ;  we  do  not  wish  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  him. 

But  in  the  case  of  Him  who  knew  no  sin,  you 
will  feel  that  we  may  especially  reckon  upon 
His  sympathy  with  the  degraded  human  soul, 
given  up  as  a  prey  to  its  foul  and  cruel  adver- 

*  Isaiah  liii.  3,  4. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS.  141 

saries.  We  may  reckon  upon  His  sympathy 
with  death  and  curse,  the  wages  of  sin.  We 
must  see  Him  bearing  our  sins  and  tasting  the 
curse.  To  bear  the  sins  of  others  and  taste  the 
curse  of  them  ;  the  very  idea  is  revolting !  And 
yet  is  it  not  from  such  experiences  of  life  that 
we  learn  the  tortures  suffered  by  bruised  and 
broken  hearts,  which  are  enough  to  make  even 
the  most  callous  shudder? 

Look  at  that  old  man  whose  noble  head  appears 
to  be  crowned  with  shame,  and  whose  back  is 
bent  as  if  loaded  with  an  invisible  but  intolerable 
burden.  You  do  not  venture  to  ask  him  the  cause 
of  his  sorrow,  and  you  do  well.  He  has,  as  it 
were,  death  in  his  soul,  and  within  this  body,  half 
consumed  with  tears  and  sighs,  he  bears  this  in- 

r 

expressible  grief — the  sins  of  a  prodigal  son. 

Feeble  and  incomplete  image,  as  far  removed 
from  the  truth  as  we  ourselves  are  removed  from 
perfection.  Thou,  O  man !  art  the  true  prodigal 
son,  in  the  infinite  variety  of  the  paths  thou 
takest  to  perdition  The  real  broken  heart  is 


142 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


Thine,  O  Jesus!  Saint  of  saints,  the  Beloved  of 
God,  who  bearest  in  Thy  human  breast  the  heart 
of  our  Father. 

Consider  how  in  proportion,  as  He  became 
acquainted  with  life,  the  abysses  of  the  bottomless 
pit  of  the  miseries  of  sin  were  gradually  revealed 
to  Him.  I  have  just  depicted  to  you  the  con¬ 
spiracy  of  His  enemies  as  it  was  insensibly  formed 
around  Him,  how  it  then  became  general,  burst  in 
a  howling  tempest,  and  nailed  Him  to  a  cross. 
Here  is  another  conspiracy  a  thousand  times  more 
formidable,  the  conspiracy  of  hell,  which  is  formed 
by  degrees,  increases,  assumes  infinite  proportions, 
then  bursts  with  indescribable  fury.  The  in¬ 
nocent  (why  should  we  not  henceforth  give  it  its 
true  name?)  the  divine  soul  of  the  Son  of  Man,  has 
met  successively  in  the  path  of  life,  shame  and 
baseness  in  sinners,  and  men  of  evil  lives,  volup¬ 
tuousness  in  the  woman  who  was  a  sinner,  and 
the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  hypocrisy,  pride, 
and  self-righteousness  among  the  Pharisees,  per¬ 
fidy  in  Judas,  blindness  and  cruelty  among  the 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


143 


populace.  The  monster  sin  thus  came  by  degrees 
out  of  his  abyss ;  he  also  became  incarnate  in 
human  form,  in  order  to  present  himself  before  the 
immaculate  conscience  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

A  moment  arrived  when  they  met  and  re¬ 
cognised  each  other.  What  a  moment !  All  is 
silence.  One  would  think  that  heaven  and  earth 
would  be  suddenly  depopulated  to  leave  all  space 
for  these  two  adversaries.  I  only  see  face  to  face 
the  man  of  salvation  and  the  man  of  the  fall,  the 
first  and  second  Adam.  But  why  do  I  speak  of 
them  as  adversaries  ?  Are  they  not  rather  two 
brothers,  who  meet  once  more.  Let  not  the  in¬ 
sensate  fury  of  the  one  blind  us  for  an  instant  to 
the  infinite  compassion  of  the  other.  It  is  thy¬ 
self,  my  brother.  It  is  thyself  in  this  mire  and 
darkness,  torn  with  passion  and  pain,  lost,  cursed, 
cursing  and  crucifying  thy  own  image.  Oh,  what 
a  lamentable  history  is  thine ;  a  past  of  shame, 
a  future  of  darkness,  bitter  reminiscences  of  lost 
innocence,  the  first  errors  followed  so  promptly  by 
a  chain  of  irreparable  consequences ;  the  pearl  of 


144 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


great  price  trampled  in  the  mud ;  every  passion 
unchained,  a  flood  of  suffering  of  every  sort, 
remorse,  fear,  bondage,  pangs  of  death,  and  dread 
of  curse.  “  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful,  even 
unto  death.”* 

You  see  Him  stand,  not  hesitating,  but  as  if 
Himself  dismayed  at  the  travail  of  His  soul  and 
the  fruit  of  His  love. 

It  is  night  in  Gethsemane. 

All  the  bitterness  that  can  be  distilled  from  sin 
pervades  His  spirit,  like  a  potion  of  which  He  is 
not  willing  to  lose  a  drop. 

It  is  the  hour  of  mystery,  before  which  every 
conscience  is  arrested,  and,  in  its  trouble,  feels 
impelled  to  throw  its  burden  on  to  the  head  of  a 
holy  victim.  “  If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass 
from  me :  nevertheless,  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou 
wilt.”t  As  Thou  wilt,  that  is  to  say  that  I  offer 
'  my  soul  as  an  oblation ;  as  Thou  wilt,  that  is  to 
say  that  I  submit  if  it  must  be  ;  let  me  bear  the 
burden  of  my  brother.  He  is  silent.  The  silence 
*  Matt.  xxvi.  38.  f  Matt.  xxvi.  39. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


145 


is  prolonged.  The  chill  of  death  congeals  the 
blood  in  His  veins.  He  is  “  exposed  to  infamy 
and  its  torments.” 

His  limbs  are  covered  with  sweat,  not  like  ours; 
the  sweat  of  His  brow  was  like  that  of  His  heart, 
which  was  breaking.  Great  drops  of  blood  were 
seen  upon  Him  when  He  arose,  calm  and  vic¬ 
torious,  to  walk  to  the  sacrifice. 

Let  them  immolate  Him  now !  Let  them  load 
Him  with  insult  and  curses !  Let  them  insult 
even  His  righteousness.  It  is  not  He,  it  is  our¬ 
selves,  it  is  sin  !  He  must  die,  He  feels  it,  He 
must  and  will.  Some  few  sighs  escape  His  lips: 
“I  thirst;”  “  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me  ?  ” 

Then,  “  It  is  finished !  ”  The  heavens  are 
veiled,  the  earth  trembles,  He  bows  His  head, 
He  succumbs,  He  expires  ! 

The  Son  of  Man  is  dead  !  Dead  of  our  death  ! 
dead  of  that  mysterious  annihilation  which  leaves 
nothing  of  us  on  earth  but  a  corpse ;  but  at  the 


L 


146 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


same  time  of  a  violent  death,  the  result  of  His 
work  and  the  result  of  His  righteousness.  It  was 
necessary  that  He  should  die,  and  that  He  should 
die  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  that  He  should 
die  of  death. 

Mark  well  that  death  does  not  appear  to  be  in 
His  case,  what  it  inevitably  is  in  ours — the 
accidental  or  natural  term  of  our  condemned  ex¬ 
istence,  a  surprise  of  weakness,  a  final  and 
irrecoverable  failure  of  strength.  His  death  is  a 
dispensation,  so  closely  united  to  all  the  exigen¬ 
cies  of  His  idea,  of  the  part  He  played,  of  His 
person  itself,  that  it  is  clothed  with  a  unique  and 
truly  touching  character.  In  the  combination  of 
circumstances  in  which  it  took  place,  it  comes 
before  us  in  these  apparently  contradictory  terms, 
but  for  the  truth  of  which  there  is  irrefragable 
proof :  the  wages  of  sin  necessarily  paid  to  the 
hero  of  righteousness,  and  by  Him  willingly 
accepted. 

That  which  with  us  is  necessary  par  excellence, 
was  with  Him  a  spontaneous  act,  voluntary  par 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


147 


excellence,  and  that  which  with  us  is  the  ripe  fruit 
of  condemnation,  in  His  case  appears  to  me  to  be 
the  flower  of  righteousness  in  its  fullest  bloom  for 
the  first  time.  Jesus  did  not  die  so  much  because 
He  was  a  man,  as  because  He  was  holy ;  but, 
because  He  was  holy,  He  died  in  such  a  way 
that  He  only  among  men  could  say :  “  I  lay  down 
my  life,  no  man  taketh  it  from  me.  I  have  power 
to  lay  it  down.”* 

Try  to  imagine  the  Son  of  Man  by  some  means 
escaping  from  this  twofold  condition,  of  a  death 
voluntary,  yet  necessary,  flavoured  with  all  the 
bitterness  of  sin,  and  at  the  same  time  absolutely 
holy,  and  you  will  have  taken  away  His  crown. 

Imperfect  or  weak,  one. or  the  other,  or  like  us 
struck  unawares  by  death,  He  would  not  have 
known  the  depth  of  our  misery,  or  having  seen  it 
would  have  turned  away  without  descending  into 
it.  In  either  case,  He  would  not  have  been  raised 
above  the  common  lot,  He  would  have  been 
absorbed  and  lost  in  the  mass  of  men;  He  would 

*  John  x.  17,  18. 


14B 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


not  have  illumined  our  dark  abyss ;  He  would 
have  left  to  suffering  all  its  problems,  and  to  death 
the  dread  name  of  the  King  of  Terrors. 

We  thus  perceive  a  new,  unique,  and  absolute 
sense  in  which  it  may  be  said,  that  it  was 
necessary  that  Christ  should  die.  And  I  will 
conclude  by  saying  (however  strange  this  pro¬ 
position  may  sound),  that  in  a  world  like  ours,  a 
death  like  His,  was  nothing  less  than  the  very 
crowning  act  of  His  perfection,  and  the  supreme 
consummation  of  His  plan  of  redemption. 

Let  us  not  explain  any  farther,  my  brethren. 
Let  us  fall  on  our  knees  and  adore  Him. 

To  this  mystery  of  the  holy  compassion  of  our 
God,  the  intellect  may  take  exception,  but  the 
heart,  the  conscience,  and  the  soul  exclaim  with 
holy  ecstasy  in  the  language  of  the  psalmist : 
Righteousness  and  peace  have  met  together, 
mercy  and  truth  have  kissed  each  other !  * 
“  Blessed  is  he  whose  transgression  is  forgiven, 
whose  sin  is  covered  !  ”f 

*  Psalm  lxxxv.  io.  f  Psalm  xxxii.  i. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 


149 


But  there  is  another  result,  new  and  un¬ 
expected,  of  this  tragic  end  of  the  Son  of  Man ; 
it  is  that  in  thus  dying,  He  draws  us  after  Him. 
If  He  henceforth  shows  us  the  way  of  salvation, 
it  is  only  by  leading  us  to  death.  All  that  we 
have  previously  said  culminates  in  this.  And 
if,  in  my  previous  discourses,  I  have  abstained 
from  practical  applications,  it  is  that  I  have  left 
them  for  this  point,  which  resumes  and  embraces 
all  the  others. 

According  to  the  measure  in  which  we  enter 
into  the  ideas  of  the  Son  of  Man,  according  to 
the  measure  in  which  we  partake  of  His  holiness, 
according  as  we  comprehend  the  sublimity  and 
the  self-denial  of  His  sacrifice,  in  that  proportion 
do  we  condemn  ourselves  to  death  with  Him,  to 
a  conscious  death,  at  once  necessary  and  volun¬ 
tary,  holy  and  yet  crucified.  A  Christian  is,  in 
fact,  but  the  dying  disciple  of  a  Master  who  does 
but  teach  him  to  die. 

This  is  self-evident,  no  doubt ;  all  the  logic  of 
the  life  of  the  Son  of  Man,  with  transparent  and 


150 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 


majestic  unity,  conducts  Him  straight  to  death. 
If  we  approach  Him,  we  must  be  on  our  guard. 
This  logic  will  seize  us,  will  surround  us  with 
its  irresistible  force,  and  conclude  with  us  as  it 
did  with  Him.  But  if  my  reasoning  has  left 
you  incredulous,  if  you  want  other  proof,  you 
have  but  to  open  the  Gospels.  What  does  Jesus 
Christ  say  ?  If  any  man  will  deny  himself,  let 
him  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me.*  What 
does  that  signify  ?  What  do  the  apostles  say  ? 
“  Christ  also  suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an 
example  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps. ”t  “  If 
one  died  for  all  then  were  all  dead.”J  To  be 
crucified  with  Christ,  to  partake  of  His  suffering, 
to  be  made  conformable  unto  His  death :  what 
does  this  signify  ?  To  repent,  to  deny  ourselves, 
to  give  our  lives,  to  be  weaned  from  earthly 
things,  to  groan  being  burdened,  to  desire  to 
depart ;  what  does  all  this  signify,  if  not  to  die, 
to  die  with  Christ  Himself,  who  died  first  to 
teach  us  to  die  ? 


#  Matt.  xvi.  24. 


t  1  Peter  ii.  21. 


X  2  Cor.  v.  14. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORRO  WS.  ,  1 5 1 

But  does  it  all  end  here  ?  Is  death  the  end  of 
all,  of  the  Gospel  as  well  as  of  the  rest  ?  And 
the  Son  of  Man,  like  a  Prince  of  death,  did  He 
only  appear  amongst  us,  did  He  only  attract  the 
human  race  to  His  feet,  to  draw  them  more 
quickly  with  Himself  into  the  depths  of  the 
abyss. 

My  brethren,  this  would  be  the  meaning  of  His 
life,  and  the  end  of  His  work,  without  the  funda¬ 
mental  fact  of  the  resurrection,  which  will  occupy 
us  in  the  next  discourse. 

9 

I  have  examined  it  with  care,  and  have  con¬ 
firmed  the  evidence  of  it  for  myself.  If  I  had  not 
found  it  firm  and  irrefragable,  God  is  my  witness 
that  I  would  to-day  finish  my  interviews  with 
you,  by  saying  as  St.  Paul  said  to  the  Corinthians: 
“  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die.” 

If  I  have  the  courage  to  say  to  you  instead: 
“  Die  to-day,”  it  is  because  from  this  day  I  can 
say  to  you  with  a  good  conscience  :  “To-morrow 
you  will  live.”  Amen. 


IV. 


€J)c  Etsen  SDne. 


‘‘If  Christ  be  not  raised,  your  faith  is  vain.” — i  Cor.  xv.  17. 


E  left  the  Son  of  Man  expiring  on  the 


V  V  instrument  of  torture.  After  a  death 
comes  the  funeral. 

A  rich  man  who  had  known  Jesus,  obtained 
authority  from  the  governor  to  take  charge  of 
His  body.  They  took  it  down  from  the  cross, 
wrapped  it  in  a  linen  cloth,  and  placed  it  in  a 
new  sepulchre,  which  was  sealed  with  the  stone 
which  was  to  conceal  Him  to  the  end  of  time. 

Is  this  all  ? 

The  historians  to  whom  we  owe  these  details 
are  unanimous  in  relating  that  on  the  next  day 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


H3 


but  one,  some  persons  having  come  to  the  sepul¬ 
chre,  found  the  stone  rolled  away  and  the  body 
gone.  At  the  same  time,  He  who  had  been  dead 
showed  Himself  alive  to  His  former  disciples. 
On  several  successive  occasions  He  made  Himself 
known  to  them,  He  eat  with  them,  and  allowed 
them  to  touch  His  wounds.  He  quitted  them  at 
last,  after  having  said  to  them :  “  Ye  shall  be 
witnesses  unto  me,  both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all 
Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth.”* 

We  next  see  this  handful  of  simple  men 
scattered  abroad,  who  without  credit  or  eloquence, 
without  prestige  of  any  sort,  were  to  proclaim  the 
reign  of  Christ,  and  to  change  the  face  of  the 
world.  They  have  but  one  text  for  their  sermons  : 
Jesus  is  risen,  and  we  are  His  witnesses. 

This  is  what  they  preach  at  Jerusalem,  at 
Corinth,  at  Rome  ;  it  is  this  that  they  proclaim 
to  Jews  and  Gentiles,  to  the  most  refined  minds 
as  well  as  to  barbarians.  It  is  the  new  word,  the 

#  Acts  i.  8. 


*54 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


creative  word  of  the  apostleship.  It  was  this  that 
gave  it  originality  and  force,  but  it  must  also  be 
confessed  that  in  some  cases  it  was  an  occasion  of 
reproach. 

Let  us  now  follow  St.  Paul  to  Athens,  the 
metropolis  of  ancient  culture.  We  shall,  doubt¬ 
less,  have  occasion  to  admire  his  infinite  tact  and 
exquisite  urbanity  amongst  the  citizens  of  the 
wise  Socrates  and  the  divine  Plato,  but  he  will 
not  change  for  them  the  ground-plan  of  his 
teaching.  Conducted  to  the  Areopagus,  called 
upon  to  expound  his  doctrine  before  the  most 
polished  and  learned  assembly  in  the  world,  he 
proclaimed  to  them  that  God  had  given  an  in¬ 
fallible  proof  of  the  august  mission  of  the  Son  of 
Man  on  earth  by  raising  Him  from  the  dead. 
Up  to  this  point,  they  listened  with  curiosity, 
even  with  favour;  but  as  soon  as  he  spoke  of 
one  raised  from  the  dead,  they  interrupted  him. 
Some  mocked,  and  others  said:  “ We  will  hear 
thee  again  of  this  matter.”* 

*  Acts  xvii.  32. 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


155 


My  brethren,  there  are  Athenians  in  the 
Church  to-day,  and  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall 
venture  beyond  the  limits  of  strict  truth,  in 
presuming  that  there  are  some  in  this  assembly. 
The  great  discussion  which  agitates  Christian 
thought  in  our  day,  tends  with  irresistible  logic 
to  concentrate  itself  more  than  ever  on  the  fact 
which  served  for  the  basis  of  apostolic  preaching. 
There  is  a  numerous  class  among  us  of  cultivated 
and  enquiring  minds,  priding  themselves  on 
common  sense  rather  than  on  depth,  who  would 
lend  a  willing  ear  to  Christian  teaching  on  con¬ 
dition  that  it  would  disencumber  itself  of  all  that 
distinguishes  it  from  philosophy,  and  especially 
from  the  narrative  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  new  school 
of  authors  of  merit  amongst  those  who  are 
charged  to  teach  Christianity,  who,  glorying  in 
their  sympathy  with  the  most  admired  representa¬ 
tives  of  contemporary  philosophic  literature  and 
fashionable  science,  some  of  them  openly  deny, 
and  others  simply  cast  into  the  shade,  the 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


156 

miraculous  event,  which  until  now,  whether  justly 
or  not,  has  been  considered  by  the  Christian 
Church  to  be  the  foundation  of  its  faith  and 
hope.  Let  us  hasten  to  explain.  I  do  not 
speak  of  railers  or  impious  persons,  not  even  of 

adversaries,  in  intention  at  least.  They  wish  to 

/ 

be  Christian,  they  profess  to  live  as  Christians, 
“  but,”  they  ask,  “must  we  believe  in  the  resur- 
tion  ?  ” 

There  is  certainly  an  advantage  in  putting  the 
question  in  a  definite  form  like  this.  It  is  perfectly 
clear.  But  it  is  impossible  to  conceal  from  our¬ 
selves  that  it  resolves  itself  into  a  question  of 
extreme  gravity.  Let  us  consider  the  following 
questions,  before  any  discussion  of  the  subject. 
If  Christianity  was  introduced  into  the  world  by 
the  preaching  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ; 
if  it  resolved  itself  at  the  time  of  its  first  expansion 
and  first  fervour,  into  a  formula  expressive  of 
faith  in  the  resurrection  cf  Jesus  Christ;  if  it  has 
never  existed  anywhere  independently  of  this 
faith — and  these  are  matters  of  fact  which  do  not 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


157 


admit  of  dispute — have  we  not  a  right  to  ask 
whether,  if  faith  in  the  resurrection  were  to  disap¬ 
pear  from  the  world,  Christianity  itself — or  what 
has  hitherto  been  called  by  that  name — would  not 
disappear  with  it  ?  This  is,  you  will  say,  a  question 
of  experience.  I  do  not  deny  it,  but  it  is  not 
God’s  will  that  it  should  ever  be  determined  by 
experience.  Meanwhile,  we  will  try  to  put  it  to 
the  proof  of  reason. 

Without  the  resurrection,  what  of  Christian 
doctrine  would  remain?  Jesus  Christ,  you  will 
say,  His  admirable  person,  His  admirable  history, 
His  admirable  words;  these  would  always  cause 
Him  to  remain  a  unique  personage,  and  give  Him 
an  exclusive  empire  over  men’s  hearts  and  con¬ 
sciences.  I  think,  my  brethren,  that  in  speaking 
thus,  you  do  homage  unconsciously,  and,  by  a 
happy  inconsequence,  to  the  incomparable  prestige 
which,  for  eighteen  centuries,  Christ  risen  has 
maintained  for  that  portion  of  the  human  race 
which  invokes  His  name.  You  will  not  dispute 
that  to  this  day,  no  one  else  has  a  prestige  like  it, 


i5« 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


any  that  it  would  not  be  insane  to  compare  with 
it.  Nevertheless,  this  prestige  must  not  magnify 
Him  in  your  eyes,  for  perhaps  after  all  it  is  the 
result  of  a  lie — an  inconceivable  false  opinion — 
a  dense  vapour  of  illusion  which  must  be  dis¬ 
pelled. 

We  will  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  too  much 
prejudiced  in  favour  of  Christ.  And,  since  you 
reduce  Him  to  -a  simple  mortal,  we  will  take  care 
not  to  apply  any  other  standard  to  Him  than 
that  which  is  applicable  to  simple  mortals.' 

I  take  His  own  words.  One  fact  strikes  me  at 
once.  He  predicted  His  resurrection.  It  is  the 
counterpoise  with  which  He  always  accompanied 
the  prediction  of  His  violent  death,  when  He 
announced  it  to  His  disciples.  He  told  them  that 
“The  Son  of  Man  shall  be  betrayed  into  the  hands 
of  men,  and  they  shall  kill  him,  and  the  third  day 
he  shall  be  raised  again.*” 

Is  this  an  impostor,  deceiving  them?  Is  He  an 
enthusiast,  who  deceives  Himself?  In  either  case 

*  Matt.  xvii.  22,  23. 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


159 


He  would  not  be  the  admirable  personage  whom 
you  think  you  can  retain. 

How  did  He  come  Himself  to  entertain  this 
faith  in  His  resurrection?  I  need  not  explain  it 
to  you.  The  fact  is,  that  He  believed  in  it  just  as 
He  believed  in  the  tragic  catastrophe  which  was 
so  soon,  to  all  appearance,  to  annihilate  the  effects 
of  His  efforts.  I  do  not  draw  this  conclusion 
solely  from  a  few  detached  words,  however  precise 
they  may  be.  I  draw  it  from  His  teaching  and 
conduct  as  a  whole.  This  is  a  fact  to  which  suffi¬ 
cient  attention  has  not  been  paid.  Jesus  never 
spoke  or  acted,  during  His  short  career,  like  one 
who  had  time  before  Him,  but  invariably  as  one 
whose  davs  were  numbered.  Provision  for  old 
age,  even  for  mature  life,  was  at  least  as  foreign 
to  Him  as  provision  for  early  death  is  to  ordinary 
mortals.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  He  never  spoke 
or  acted  as  if  death  would  be  to  Him  a  termination, 
but  always  as  if  it  were  a  point  of  departure.  His 
life  was  constructed  on  the  basis  of  His  death; 
everything  had  reference  to  it.  That  which  to 


i6o 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


others  is  a  disappearance,  will  be  to  Him  a  great 
and  signal  manifestation.  He  always  conducted 
Himself  as  if  He  were  to  be  the  victim  of  to¬ 
morrow,  but  as  if  He  were  to  be  the  Risen  One 
the  day  following.  Now,  can  you  imagine  that  the 
end  of  all  this  was  to  deceive?  To  deceive  whom? 
Everybody?  In  whose  interest?  The  idea  is  an 
absurdity. 

What  then  remains  but  to  consider  Him  an 
enthusiast,  a  sublime  dreamer,  cherishing  the 
most  naive  illusion,  anticipating  the  most  colossal 
deception  that  ever  was.  What  is  life,  my  brethren, 
with  the  clear  foresight  of  death?  The  games  of 
children  building  castles  of  sand  upon  the  shore, 
to  see  them  demolished  by  the  waves.  We  open 
our  eyes  to  the  light,  our  minds  to  science,  our 
hearts  to  love;  for  a  little  day  we  are  the  centre 
of  all  things;  we  construct  an  ideal,  we  seem  to 
grasp  it;  a  little  sooner  or  later,  a  wave  of  the 
great  ocean  passes  over  it,  and  reduces  all  to  ruin. 
“The  last  act  is  tragic,  however  comic  all  the  rest 
may  be.  We  throw  dust  upon  our  heads  at  last, 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


161 


and  there  it  is  for  ever!”  Catastrophe,  contradic¬ 
tion,  mystery. 

I  cast  my  eye  on  the  brief  career  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  so  monumental  in  its  narrow  limits,  and  I 
only  see  in  it  an  example  among  many  memorable 
ones  of  these  capricious  reverses.  What  was  the 
use  of  this  ideally  beautiful  conception  of  life  ? 
What  was  the  use  of  this  wealth  of  holiness,  of 
suffering,  of  wisdom,  of  greatness  ?  Of  what  use, 
above  all,  was  this  sublime  dream  of  a  resurrection 
which  was  to  crown  His  work  and  insure  His 
reign  so  marvellously?  Was  all  this  to  vanish  in 
its  turn,  in  the  impenetrable  darkness  of  the  im¬ 
penetrable  future  ?  Was  all  this  to  disappear  on 
the  shores  of  the  unknown,  neither  more  nor  less 
obscurely  than  the  lowest  of  mankind  ?  Oh  ! 
melancholy  conclusion  of  a  brilliant  beginning. 
To  all  our  experience  of  illusions,  it  adds  one  more 
which  surpasses  all  the  rest,  and  proclaims  for  the 
thousandth  time,  but  with  extreme  emphasis,  the 
inexorable  decree  of  our  nothingness.  There  was 
a  man  greater  and  wiser  than  all  the  rest — a  man 


M 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


162 


without  fault  or  sin — a  man  who,  in  mind  and 
heart  and  life,  was  worthy  to  wear  the  crown  in 
the  kindom  of  his  fellows,  and  to  exercise  over 
them  a  universal  empire  of  love  and  adoration. 
There  was  a  man  unique  among  men — in  a  word, 
there  was  a  perfect  man — but  he  made  shipwreck 
in  face  of  death,  and  disappeared  as  we  shall  one 
day  disappear.  Death  finally  attached  him  to 
his  car  like  an  illustrious  captive,  and  he  served, 
like  all  the  rest,  to  illustrate  the  sinister  majesty 
of  the  king  of  terrors,  and  furnished  the  most 
brilliant  ornament  of  his  triumph. 

Such  as  Christ  is,  such  is  Christianity. 

Take  awav  from  our  convictions  the  faith  in 

j 

a  risen  Saviour,  what  remains  ?  Faith  in  im¬ 
mortality  ?  Alas  !  this  was  not  so  securely 
seated  before,  and  I  fear  you  give  it  a  blow  such 
as  it  will  not  recover.  Faith  in  immortality! 
vague  expression  of  the  desire  to  live  which 
exists  at  the  bottom  of  the  human  mind,  which 
has  been  the  subject  of  a  hope,  even  of  a  pre¬ 
sumption  with  some  rare  geniuses  ;  faith  in  im- 


1 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


163 

mortality  is  so  closely  identified  with  faith  in 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  wherever  His 
name  has  been  proclaimed,  that  to  take  away 
this  support  is  to  take  away  every  support. 

It  is  true  that  Jesus  spoke  of  the  future  with 
a  certainty  and  authority  which  no  one  had 
ever  dared  to  adopt  before  Him.  But  of  what 
use  are  these  affirmations,  contradicted  by  His 
own  defeat  ?  What  did  He  know  after  all  ?  what 
did  He  demonstrate  any  more  than  any  one  else  ? 
If  He  was  so  grossly  deceived  Himself  in  His 
predictions  of  triumph  and  of  resurrection,  who 
will  guarantee  that  He  was  not  also  deceived  in 
His  pretended  revelations  of  heaven,  of  the  house 
of  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven?  Whatever  He 
said,  death  remains  for  Him  and  for  us,  with  its 
veil  of  mystery  and  its  dark  abysses.  I  may 
admire  His  confidence  in  the  face  of  this  im¬ 
penetrable  and  silent  unknown  land,  but  I  confess 
that  I  feel  more  attracted  by  the  sincere  doubts 
of  Socrates,  who,  when  conversing  with  his 
friends  of  the  chances  of  immortality,  prolonged 


m  2 


164 


\ 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


his  discourse  in  order  to  intoxicate  himself,  as  he 
said,  with  the  hopes  that  he  drew  from  his  own 
mind.  In  spite  of  him  and  after  him,  the  question 
remains  just  as  it  was.  We  may  still  reason 
again  and  again,  exercise  our  minds,  analyse  the 
infinite,  intoxicate  ourselves  with  hope  or  with 
despair,  penetrate  into  the  gulf  until  we  are  the 
victims  of  illusion  or  of  vertigo. 

Consult  your  learned  men,  who  introduce  learn¬ 
ing  into  the  sanctuary.  Ask  them  what  they 
have  learnt  from  their  dusty  books  and  the  smoke 
of  their  night  watches. 

They  will  tell  you  that  the  problem  of  the 
destiny  of  mankind  has  made  no  progress  for 
them  since  the  time  of  Socrates,  who  made  no 
advance  upon  his  predecessors.  Then  bring  this 
conclusion  before  the  tribunal  of  common  sense. 
Ever  since  reason  has  been  consuming  itself  in 
efforts  to  pierce  the  future,  it  has  not  discovered 
or  demonstrated  anything.  Does  it  then  become, 
day  by  day,  more  probable  that  there  will  be  an 
immortality  for  man?  No,  indeed!  You  know 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


that  the  answer  will  be  that  it  becomes  therefore 
more  and  more  improbable  ;  and  with  so  much 
doubt  it  is  the  safest  way  to  abstain  from  hoping. 
Bad  logic,  I  admit,  for  in  such  a  case,  if  there  be 
but  one  chance  in  a  thousand,  we  ought  to  take 
that  chance.  But  can  you  say  that  this  is  not 
the  reasoning  which  arises  in  men’s  minds  ?  Do 

4 

you  not  know  that  the  world  is  there,  the  passions 
are  there,  that  a  thousand  specious  pretexts,  a 
thousand  excuses  present  themselves  ?  Do  you 
not  know  that  lust  has  also  its  logic,  too  often 
triumphant  over  evidence  itself,  how  much  more, 
then,  over  demonstrated  uncertainty  ?  And  if 
you  take  away  this  foundation,  do  you  not  feel 
that  everything  is  shaking,  and  is  ready  to  fall 
to  the  ground  with  it  ?  If,  in  future,  we  are  to 
see  the  great  lines  of  Christian  conviction  vacil¬ 
late,  do  you  not  feel  that  by  a  powerful  necessity 
and  an  inevitable  rebound,  they  vanish  in  the 
provisional  region  of  a  present  which  no  longer 
knows  what  remains  to  look  forward  to?  I  appeal 
to  your  fairness  and  quick  perceptions  to  perceive 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


1 66 

at  once  the  vast  train  of  consequences  which  time 
fails  me  to  unfold  to  you. 

Christianity  is  the  religion  of  a  personal  God. 
But  how  will  you  henceforth  retain  this  per¬ 
sonal  God  ?  Does  it  not  seem  to  you  that  He 
loses  His  footing  upon  earth,  and  mounts  up  into 
the  regions  of  silence  and  darkness,  where  every 

*  4 

living  figure  disappears  ? 

Christianity  is  the  religion  of  reconciliation. 
Reconciliation  of  whom  and  with  whom  hence¬ 
forth  ?  Vain  word,  which  no  longer  has  any 
meaning  when  we  hear  it,  unless  it  means  the 
dis-illusion  of  a  soul  which  thought  it  had  need 
of  a  reconciliation,  in  the  expectation  of  falling 
into  the  hands  of  a  living  God  after  death. 
Christianity  is  the  religion  of  love  and  devotion. 
But  what  becomes  of  the  love  of  a  God  who 
becomes  cold  in  death  and  vanishes  away  ?  Do 
you  not  feel  that  the  purpose  for  which.  He  came 
would  be  entirely  frustrated  ? 

What  becomes  of  those  spiritual  affections, 
which  are  only  bound  together  by  the  love  of 


THE  RISEN  ONE . 


167 


God,  who  is  love  ?  What  becomes  of  self- 
sacrifice  ?  In  what  sense  can  we  take  these 
words,  which  sum  up  in  themselves  the  essence 
of  practical  Christianity:  “To  lose  life  in  order 
to  find  it  ?  ” 

I  know  that  in  the  world  of  mind,  as  in  the 
world  of  matter,  night  does  not  always  succeed 
to  day  without  twilight.  For  a  long  time  after 
the  sun  has  disappeared  from  the  horizon,  light  is 
diffused  over  the  earth.  And  if  it  were  possible 
that  faith  in  Christ  risen  should  disappear  from 
Christendom  to-day,  it  would  not  be  to-morrow 
that  we  should  experience  the  extreme  con¬ 
sequences  of  the  irreparable  loss.  Our  children, 
our  grandchildren,  and  our  great-grandchildren 
would  perhaps  remember  something  of  the  light 
that  shines  on  us,  and  would  anxiously  cherish 
its  last  faint  reflection. 

But  that  you  may  not  deceive  yourselves,  my 
brethren,  this  door  closed  upon  the  future  world 
makes  night.  This  breach  in  the  walls  of  our 
prison  once  closed,  death  has  seized  his  prey 


1 68 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


again.  It  subjugates  us  once  more,  shuts  us  up, 
stifles  us  in  the  inexorable  bondage  of  this  dismal 
dungeon,  let  us  rather  say  this  leaden  coffin,  which 
we  call  the  earth. 

A  Christ  without  a  resurrection  !  Christianity 
without  the  Risen  One  !  Do  we  know  what  it 
means  ? 

Providence  sometimes  prepares  instruction  for 
us,  which  is  so  much  the  more  admirable  because 
it  is  drawn  from  the  most  unexpected  sources. 
Just  at  the  time  when,  in  our  privileged  western 
world,  doubts  are  spreading  under  the  shadow  of 
learning  about  the  fact  and  the  importance  of 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  God,  who  is  also 
the  Master  of  learning,  my  brethren,  and  guides 
her  in  her  boldest  researches  as  well  as  in  her 
proudest  victories,  with  the  wise  patience  of  a 
father  who  spells  their  lesson  word  by  word  to 
his  children,  God,  I  say,  has  judged  it  opportune 
to  turn  the  attention  of  the  learned  to  the 
profound  darkness  of  the  east,  in  order  to  bring 
to  light  the  noble  and  touching  figure  of  a  man 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


169 


who  has  been  sometimes  compared  to  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  he  might  almost  form  a  pendant  to 
Jesus  Christ,  if  it  were  not  for  the  resurrection 
and  the  splendours  which  radiate  from  this  point 
of  light.  Do  you  know  the  history  of  Buddha 
Sakyamouni  ? 

He  was  the  only  son  of  a  king,  born  for  great¬ 
ness.  Handsome,  clever,  adored  by  his  relations, 
he  was  gifted  with  a  most  tender  heart  and 
generous  mind.  He  was  at  an  early  age  so  pro¬ 
foundly  affected  by  the  spectacle  of  the  miseries 
that  afflict  the  human  race,  that  he  conceived 
the  idea  of  devoting  his  life  to  relieve  them. 

He  therefore  quitted  his  father’s  house,  re¬ 
nounced  the  throne  to  which  he  was  heir,  and 
despoiled  himself  of  everything,  in  order  that  by 
sharing  them  he  might  study  the  miseries  which 
he  proposed  to  relieve.  His  attention  was  soon 
attracted  to  death,  that  supreme  calamity,  in 
which  all  the  rest  seem  to  be  swallowed  up, 
and  round  which  they  revolve  as  round  a  mys¬ 
terious  centre.  He  tried  to  sound  its  depths, 


170 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 


and  to  discover  its  secrets.  He  demanded  of  it  a 
god,  he  demanded  a  hope,  he  demanded  a  law,  he 
asked 'for  something  for  the  soul  of  man.  But  he 
received  for  answer,  “  There  is  nothing.”  He  con¬ 
cluded,  therefore,  that  the  highest  wisdom  must 
consist  in  detaching  oneself  from  everything,  in 
order  to  make  oneself  equivalent  to  nothing.  With 
his  own  hands  he  dis-interred  a  corpse,  took  off  the 
winding-sheet,  and  made  himself  a  mantle  of  it. 
For  some  years  he  retired  into  inaccessible  places, 
and  gave  himself  up  to  the  singular  occupation  of 
stifling  within  himself  every  desire,  every  wish, 
every  affection,  every  recollection,  all  fear  and  all 
hope,  even  the  consciousness  of  his  own  existence. 

When  he  thought  that  he  had  attained  his 
object,  he  gathered  a  few  disciples  together,  and 
initiated  them  into  the  processes  of  contemplation, 
by  which  they  gradually  attained  the  vertigo  of 
annihilation.  He  then  travelled  about:  with  them, 
preaching  and  evangelising,  led  an  admirable 
life  of  renunciation,  gentleness,  and  perseverance. 
He  discovered  and  propagated  that  celebrated 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


171 


doctrine  of  annihilation,  which  still  weighs  heavily 
upon  three  hundred  millions  of  human  beings, 
which  is  nothing  less  than  death,  death  itself 
taking  possession  of  the  brain  of  man  in  the  form 
of  a  fixed  idea. 

When  after  this,  I  read  again  those  words  of 
St.  Paul :  “  If  Christ  is  not  risen  our  faith  is 
vain,”  I  tremble.  As  I  look,  I  seem  to  see  thick 
darkness  arising  again  to  enfold  the  world,  and 
to  see  out  precious,  our  holy,  our  best-beloved 
faith  losing  ground,  fading  away,  vanishing  at 
last  behind  the  victorious  shadow  of  death.  Our 
faith  !  the  support  of  the  desolate,  the  peace  of 
the  dying,  is  it  then  destined  to  perish  ?  God 
forbid  !  But  in  the  shudder  that  you  have  ex¬ 
perienced,  you  have  felt,  I  am  sure,  that  it  is 
the  vital  question  that  we  are  discussing  to-day. 

Have  we  not  all  already  given  too  many  pledges 
to  death  ?  This  is  a  matter  concerning  our  wives 
and  children.  We  are  fighting  for  our  hearths. 
Let  us  advance  to  meet  the  enemy ;  it  is  time 
to  measure  our  strength  with  his.. 


172 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


What  have  you  to  object  to  the  teaching  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  ?  What  are  your  motives 
for  doubting  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ? 
In  answer  to  this  query,  I  think  I  see  appear  in 
the  first  place,  the  imposing  form  of  learning. 
Her  brow  is  charged  with  thought,  and  her  arms 
are  loaded  with  books. 

“We  have  examined  the  narratives  which  re¬ 
port  the  pretended  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,” 
she  says,  “  and  we  find  that  their  authenticity 
is  doubtful.  The  date  of  them  may  be  many 
years  later  than  that  which  your  tradition  assigns 
to  them,  which  throws  the  first  doubt  on  their 
historic  value.  Further,  we  have  observed,  that 
the  narratives  do  not  entirely  agree.  They  men¬ 
tion  various  details,  even  some  that  seem  on 
several  points  to  contradict  each  other.  We 
conclude  from  this,  that  these  narratives  may 
be  only  the  expression,  tardily  committed  to 
writing,  of  legends  and  myths  which  gradually 
arose  in  the  simple  minds  of  the  first  Christians. 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  a  historical  problem 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


173 


of  the  most  complex  and  difficult  kind.  We  are 
examining,  comparing,  criticising.  Pickaxe  in 
hand,  we  are  clearing  the  ground.  Afterwards, 
we  shall  amass  materials,  and  if  ever  we  succeed 
in  constructing  a  solid  edifice,  your  remotest 
posterity  will  thank  us  for  the  shelter.”  Thank 
you  !  Until  then,  we  think  it  will  be  wise  to 
suspend  our  judgment. 

Be  re-assured,  my  brethren ;  I  do  not  propose 

\ 

to  give  you  the  spectacle  of  a  learned  passage 
of  arms.  This  redoubtable  figure  that  we  have 
just  called  up  before  us  is  nothing  but  a  phantom. 
We  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Let  learning 
make  its  attacks  and  defend  itself  in  the  arena  of 
learning.  There  it  will  find  equals  to  cope  with. 
We  must  have  books  for  adversaries,  and  thank 
God,  the  contest  will  not  cease  for  lack  of  com¬ 
batants.  Let  it  suffice  us,  then,  to  learn,  that  from 
this  quarter,  the  news  is  good.  The  triumphs  of 
truth  do  not  always  belong  to  those  who  make  the 
most  noise. 

Metaphor  apart,  the  question  which  occupies  us 


174 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


is  not  one  of  erudition;  it  is  purely  a  question  of 
common  sense  and  judgment,  entirely  within  the 
capacity  of  poor  laymen  like  ourselves.  Observe 
that  it  is  a  question  of  fact — of  a  fact  reduced  to 
its  most  simple  expression.  Was  Jesus  Christ 
raised?  Yes  or  No?  Now,  the  fact  rests  upon 
evidence  entirely  sheltered  from  the  attacks  of 
learning — and  this  is  admitted  even  by  learning 
itself,  and  that  of  the  most  advanced  kind.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  preached  long  before  the  com¬ 
pilation  of  the  sacred  text,  the  date  of  which  is 
discussed,  and  the  details  criticised.  The  letters 
written  by  the  apostles,  and  which  were  only  one 
form  of  their  preaching,  make  a  faith  of  it,  and 
have  an  irrefragable  apologetic  value. 

Bossuet  brought  forward  this  consideration.  He 
says,  with  much  good  sense:  “The  epistles  of  St. 
Paul  alone,  so  animated,  so  original,  so  full  of  the 
time,  and  of  the  affairs  and  interests  that  existed 
then — in  a  word,  of  so  marked  a  character ;  these 
epistles,  I  say,  received  by  the  churches  to  which 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


1 75 


they  were  addressed,  and  by  them  communicated 
to  other  churches,  should  suffice  to  convince 
candid  minds  that  all  is  sincere  and  original  in 
the  writings  left  us  by  the  apostles.” 

This  is  true  in  a  general  way,  and  how  much 
more  in  particular  for  all  that  concerns  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  Jesus  Christ. 

From  among  the  epistles  of  the  great  apostle,  I 
select  one,  up  to  this  time  absolutely  undisputed; 
the  first  to  the  Corinthians.  I  open  the  15th 
chapter,  and  this  is  what  I  read.  Paul  recalls  to 
his  readers  the  ministry  which  he  had  exercised 
among  them,  and  the  teaching  by  which  he  had 
brought  them  to  the  faith.  He  says:  “For  I 
delivered  unto  you  that  which  I  also  received  ; 
how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the 
Scriptures:  and  that  he  was  buried,  and  that  he 
rose  again  the  third  day  according  to  the  Scrip¬ 
tures;  and  that  he  was  seen  of  Cephas,  then 
of  the  twelve :  after  that  he  was  seen  of  above 
five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  of  whom  the  greater 
part  remain  unto  this  present,  but  some  are 


176 


THE  SON  OF  MAN . 


fallen  asleep.  After  that  he  was  seen  of  James, 
then  of  all  the  apostles.  And  last  of  all  he  was 
seen  of  me  also,  as  of  one  born  out  of  due 
time.”* 

What  do  you  say  to  this  passage,  taken  indiffer¬ 
ently  from  among  a  hundred  others  ?  Do  you  not 
find  in  these  words,  written  twenty  years  after  the 
event,  by  an  eye-witness,  invoking  the  testimony 
of  five  hundred  other  eye-witnesses  known  to 
him ;  do  you  not  find  in  these  words  the  most 
simple  and  indisputable  confirmation  of  all  that 
the  book  of  the  Acts  narrates  to  us  of  the  preaching 
of  the  first  apostles  ?  This  is  so  plain  that  every 
one  agrees  in  it.  “This  is  the  entire  teaching  of 
the  apostles,”  says  one  of  the  most  learned  authors, 
but  also  one  of  the  most  advanced  in  the  path  of 
negations.  “This  is  the  entire  teaching  of  the 
Apostles;  the  book  of  Acts  has  preserved  it  for  us 
in  an  elementary  and  simple  form :  ‘  You  have 
killed  the  Christ,’  said  the  disciples  to  the  Jews; 
‘but  God  has  released  Him  from  the  tomb,  to 

#  1  Cor  xv.  3 — 8. 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


1 77 


raise  Him  up  to  the  heavens.’”  You  understand 
this  is  the  entire  teaching  of  the  Apostles  ! 

Have  I  not  a  right  to  say  to  you,  after  such  an 
admission  from  learning,  that  we  can  now  very 
well  dispense  with  it  for  a  moment,  and  may 
politely  beg  it  to  retire?  It  has  put  us  in  pos¬ 
session  of  a  gift,  the  value  of  which  we  can  appre¬ 
ciate  without  its  help,  and  from  which  we  know 
what  conclusions  to  draw.  It  only  requires  a 
little  attention  and  candour,  things  which  the 
least  member  of  the  flock,  a  merchant,  or  a  man 
of  the  world,  is  quite  as  capable  of  possessing, 
and  is  as  competent  to  exercise,  as  the  most  con¬ 
summate  critic,  or  the  most  profound  philosopher. 
Go,  then,  ye  learned  men,  and  attend  to  your  own 
affairs,  while  you  leave  ours  to  us.  We  will  call 
you  again  if  we  want  you.  But,  of  all  things,  do 
not  come  and  throw  the  dust  of  your  libraries  in 
our  eyes,  for  we  feel  ourselves  to  be  in  the  presence 
of  one  of  those  things  which  God,  in  His  wisdom, 
has  seen  fit  to  make  especially  plain  to  straight¬ 
forwardness  and  honesty,  and  these  we  possess  as 


N 


i78 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


well  as  you.  The  question  for  us,  is  to  prove  the 
historic  evidence  of  a  fact.  In  order  to  render  an 
inquiry  as  impartial  as  possible,  we  will  at  present 
consider  neither  the  supernatural  nor  religious 
character  of  the  event.  Let  us  divest  our  minds 
of  all  prejudice  of  whatsoever  kind. 

We  are  investigating  an  event  of  past  times, 
which  does  not  more  personally  interest  us,  is 
nothing  more  to  us  than  some  celebrated  battle, 
or  some  famous  incident  of  antiquity. 

All  historic  certainty  rests  upon  two  grounds : 
testimony  on  the  one  hand  ;  on  the  other  the  re¬ 
lation  of  the  event  to  the  course  of  contemporary 
history.  Thus,  you  believe  that  Julius  Caesar 
was  assassinated  in  the  senate  of  Rome,  just  when 
he  was  about  to  possess  himself  of  absolute  power. 
Why? 

First,  because  you  know  that  the  historians 
who  have  reported  this  tragic  end  to  us,  were  able 
to  receive  the  narrative  from  eye-witnesses,  whose 
veracity  you  have  no  reason  to  suspect.  Next, 
because  this  violent  and  premature  death  is  woven 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


179 


so  naturally  into  the  woof  of  contemporary  history, 
it  is  in  such  close  relation  to  what  goes  before 
and  after,  that  if  by  any  possibility  you  could  be 
assured  that  Caesar  was  not  assassinated,  you 
would  find  yourselves  in  the  presence  of  an 
enigma. 

To  ask  any  other  proofs  than  these  of  a  fact, 
would  be  simply  absurd.  And  when  these  two 
proofs  are  found  together  with  a  certain  degree  of 
authenticity,  they  corroborate  each  other,  and 
produce  upon  the  mind  a  conviction  which  gener¬ 
ally  places  the  event  beyond  the  reach  of  doubt. 

Now,  apply  this  double  inquiry  to  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  Jesus  Christ.  Have  we  in  this  case 
witnesses  worthy  of  credit  ?  To  put  the  question 
is  to  answer  it. 

Recall  to  your  minds  the  passage  from  St.  Paul 
which  I  quoted  just  now.  “  It  must  be,”  says 
Pascal,  “that  the  apostles  were  either  deceivers 
or  deceived.” 

Deceived !  When  five  hundred  persons — if  it 
were  twelve  only — when  twelve  persons  sound  in 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


180 

body  and  mind,  capable  of  the  coolest  observation, 
I  may  say  pre-occupied  with  ideas  the  most  con- 
tradictary  to  the  fact ;  when  twelve  persons  tell 
us  that  they  have  seen,  and  not  only  so  but  heard, 
and  not  only  that  but  touched ;  when  their  testi¬ 
mony  is  accompanied  by  such  narratives  as  the 
conversion  of  St.  Thomas,  and  the  restoration  of 
St.  Peter.  If  they  do  not  speak  truth,  they  must 
be  liars  indeed. 

Deceivers  !  My  brethren,  you  know  them,  you 
have  seen  them  at  their  work,  they  are  your 
brothers,  your  friends.  Will  you  give  them  the 
lie  ?  Ah  !  the  whole  Roman  senate  which  attests 
the  death  of  Caesar,  is  not  to  be  compared  for 
weight  of  character,  to  one  of  these  men  so  candid 
and  so  tried,  whose  names  are  St.  Peter,  St.  John, 
and  St.  James;  who  carry  their  sincerity  so  far 
that  they  tell  us  of  their  doubts  before  they  tell  us 
of  their  faith,  and  who  take  care  to  inform  us  of 
their  weaknesses  and  their  prejudices,  before 
telling  us  of  their  greatness  and  their  heroism. 
Besides,  is  it  not  an  insult  to  their  martyrdom  to 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


1 8 1 


suspect  their  good  faith  ?  One  blushes  to  think  of 
it.  Pascal  says  again  on  this  point  :  “I  believe 
witnesses  who  incur  the  danger  of  death.”  Do 
you  say  that  martyrdom  does  not  always  prove 
the  truth  of  a  doctrine  ?  So  do  I.  People  give 
their  lives  for  error  as  well  as  for  truth,  when  they 
mistake  error  for  truth. 

But  it  is  not  a  question  now  of  the  truth  of  a 
doctrine ;  it  is  a  question  pure  and  simple  of  the 
sincerity  of  witnesses ;  it  is  a  question  whether 
the  apostles  died  guilty  of  flagrant  imposture ;  it 
is  a  question  whether  they  endured  all  the  labours 
of  their  apostleship,  and  the  tortures  of  martyr¬ 
dom  for  the  absurd  obstinacy  of  repeating  every¬ 
where  and  during  the  whole  of  their  lives,  that 
they  had  seen  with  their  own  eyes  what  they  had 
not  seen.  It  is  a  question  whether  St.  Paul  had 
been  lying  all  his  life,  when  he  said  in  prospect  of 
martyrdom  :  “  Of  the  hope  and  resurrection  of  the 
dead  I  am  called  in  question.”*  “  But  none  of 
these  things  move  me,  so  that  I  might  finish  my 


-r* 


Acts  xxiii.  6. 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


1 32 


course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I  have 
received  of  the  Lord.”* 

It  is  a  question  whether  they  all  agreed  to  lie 
all  their  lives,  when,  threatened  with  death  for 
their  testimony,  they  replied,  by  the  mouth  of  St. 
Peter,  to  the  Sanhedrim,  which  only  commanded 
them  to  be  quiet :  “  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather 
than  men.  The  God  of  our  fathers  raised  up 
Jesus;  and  we  are  his  witnesses  of  these  things. ”+ 

I  ask  every  sincere  man,  and  every  well-con¬ 
stituted  mind,  whether  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race,  there  is  any  fact  so  well  attested  as 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

But,  as  we  have  said,  the  most  credible  testi¬ 
mony  is  not  the  only  condition  of  historic  evidence. 
However  faithfully  we  may  believe  a  fact  to  have 
been  reported,  it  only  acquires  the  highest  confir¬ 
mation,  when  it  comes  before  us  so  closely  con¬ 
nected  with  what  precedes  and  follows  it,  that  it 
offers  the  most  natural  explanation  of  it.  The 
materials  of  history  are  like  the  materials  of  a 
#  Acts  xx.  24.  f  Acts  v.  29,  30,  32. 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


183 


building.  They  support  each  other  reciprocally 
in  such  a  manner,  that  if  one  piece  is  wanting  all 
the  rest  are  affected  by  it.  They  call  the  absent 
to  account.  It  is  a  testimony  of  another  sort,  a 
blind  and  necessary  testimony  of  things  by  the 
side  of  the  free  and  intelligent  testimony  of  men. 
After  the  proof  it  is  a  counterproof.  Now,  has  the 
event  which  we  are  considering  received  this  con¬ 
firmation  ?  Does  it  take  its  place  in  history  like 
a  link  of  a  chain  ?  Does  it  accord  with  what 

t  x 

precedes  and  follows  it  ? 

May  I  not  say  in  this  case  also,  to  ask  the 
question  is  to  answer  it  ?  The  place  of  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  Jesus  Christ  among  the  events  which 
accompany  it !  It  is  like  the  key-stone  of  an 
arch.  Its  place  is  such,  that  with  it  perfect 
equilibrium  is  maintained ;  take  it  away  and 
everything  is  disjointed  and  disturbed.  Whether 
you  consider  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment,  their  strange  paradoxes,  their  inexplicable 
contradictions,  the  mysterious  antithesis  of  a 
servant  of  the  Lord,  in  turn,  cut  off  out  of  the 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


184 


land  of  the  living  and  prolonging  His  days ; 
satisfied  with  the  travail  of  His  soul,  after  having 
made  His  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  taken  from 
prison  and  from  judgment,  afterwards  to  found 
the  universal  kingdom  of  righteousness  and  peace; 
whether  you  consider  the  life  of  the  Son  of  Man, 
this  surprising  confidence  in  the  power  of  His 
death,  to  bring  about  the  triumph  of  all  His  plans ; 
this  incomprehensible  pre-occupation  which  made 
Him  invariably  postpone  His  glory,  and  the  ac¬ 
complishment  of  His  promises  until  after  His 
apparent  defeat,  by  a  real  descent  into  the  sepul¬ 
chre  ;  whether  you  consider  the  despair  of  the 
disciples,  and  their  re-assurance  after  the  short 
space  of  three  days,  which  seemed  to  place  upon 
them  alone  all  the  weight  of  destiny ;  or  the 
prodigy  of  the  establishment  of  Christianity  by 
the  simple  proclamation  of  the  Son  of  Man  as' 
the  Son  of  God,  by  the  power  of  His  resurrection 
from  the  dead : — without  this  royal  and  primor¬ 
dial  fact,  each  of  these  facts  becomes  but  a 
problem,  and  each  series  of  facts  a  series  of  in- 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


185 


soluble  problems.  Suppress  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ,  you  will  decapitate  history;  and 
not  only  contemporary  history,  but  in  truth, 
universal  history  also. 

9 

You  will  see,  that  I  shall  never  finish  if  I  enter 
into  the  details  of  this  demonstration.  It  is  a 
work  for  your  leisure.  I  will  only  bring  forward 
one  point  by  way  of  example,  to  give  you  an  idea 
of  the  value  of  considerations  of  this  sort.  I  ask 
how  you  will  explain  the  faith  of  the  first  preachers 
of  the  Gospel,  if  you  take  away  from  this  faith 
the  basis  of  the  fact  which  they  proclaim.  You 
will  not  accuse  me  of  exaggerating  the  terms  of 
a  problem,  by  an  artifice  of  declamation.  I  quote 
from  an  opponent,  one  of  those  who  has  wandered 
the  furthest  in  the  lost  paths  of  the  negative 
science,  but  also  one  of  the  most  sincere,  the 
most  serious,  and  most  profoundly  respectable 
even  in  his  wanderings.*  This  is  the  exposition: 

“  Let  us  imagine,  if  we  can,  the  state  of  mind 
of  the  little  flock  of  believers  on  the  evening  of 


*  Scherer. 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


1 86 


the  day  of  their  Master’s  execution,  the  day 
after  the  crucifixion.  What  a  blow !  What  a 
shipwreck  of  illusions !  They  had  placed  all 
their  hopes  upon  the  meek  preacher  of  Galilee. 

“Jesus  had  given  Himself  out  as  the  Messiah, 
and  they  had  naively  believed  His  declaration. 
They  were  sure  that  their  Master  would,  sooner 
or  later,  cause  His  character  to  be  recognised, 
and  that  He  would  be  carried  with  acclamation 
to  a  throne.  They  saw  in  Him  a  Monarch  in 
disguise,  the  inheritor  of  the  magnificent  promises 
of  God.  A  few  weeks,  a  little  patience,  and  they 
will  see  the  wonders  of  the  last  days.  They 
will  themselves  participate  in  these  honours — 
but  no,  all  this  is  but  a  dream ;  the  critical 
moment  has  arrived,  and  Jesus  has  succumbed. 
Instead  of  being  enthroned,  He  has  been  executed 
— He  is  dead.  You  comprehend,  He  is  dead 
who  was  to  have  lived  for  ever.  He  who  was 
to  have  reigned  in  more  than  earthly  glory  has 
perished  upon  a  cross,  like  the  worst  of  criminals. 
It  is  not  much  that  He  is  dead,  His  promises 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


187 


have  perished  with  Him.  Poor  disciples,  He 
has  deceived  you.  You  would  be  happy  if  you 
had  only  lost  the  head  of  the  family,  the  friend, 
the  revered  master.  But  you  have  not  even  the 
consolation  of  admiring  Him ;  you  are  compelled 
to  doubt  Him,  to  regard  Him  as  insane,  even 
as  an  imposter. 

“  Three  days  have  passed,  days  of  sorrow  and 
shame,  of  which  we  can  form  no  idea ;  three  days 
have  passed  away  and  all  is  changed !  These 
same  men,  yesterday  confounded  and  in  despair, 
doubting  Christ,  God,  and  themselves,  these  same 
men  have  regained  everything.  They  believe 
again,  and  more  firmly  than  ever.  They  triumph. 
Henceforward  nothing  can  shake  them.  And  this 
conviction  which  they  have  themselves,  they  will 
succeed  in  communicating  to  others.  Listen,  O 
world  !  Thou  art  going  to  hear  accents  of  per¬ 
suasion  so  irresistible,  that  thou  wilt  have  to 
end  by  submitting  to  them. 

“Such  was  the  day  after  the  crucifixion,  and 
such  the  day  after  that.  What,  then,  had  passed 


1 88 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


between  these  two  moments  ?  ”  Here  common 
sense  seems  to  have  forsaken  our  author,  and 
replies  with  us ;  the  resurrection,  the  real  fact, 
the  palpable,  brilliant  miracle  of  the  resurrection, 
which  has  been  fully  confirmed.  What  would 
you  put  in  its  place  ?  Listen,  I  quote  again  :  “  It 
appears  that  the  tomb  in  which  the  body  of  Jesus 
had  been  placed,  was  found  empty — this  empty 
sepulchre  became  a  ray  of  light  for  the  disciples.” 
In  plain  language,  they  worship  and  believe  ! 
They  worship,  and  “henceforth  nothing  can  shake 
them.” 

They  worship — “  Listen,  O  world !  thou  art 
going  to  hear  accents  of  persuasion  so  irresistible, 
that  thou  wilt  have  to  end  by  submitting  to  them.” 

These  men,  “confounded,  in  despair,  doubting 
Christ,  God,  and  themselves” — “  a  ray  of  light  at  an 
empty  tomb” — “  and  they  have  regained  everything. 
They  believe  again,  and  more  firmly  than  ever. 
They  triumph  !  ”  It  is  this  ray  of  light  which  will 
guide  them  to  the  conquest  of  the  world.  This  is 
the  ray  of  light  that  will  not  be  extinguished  by 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


189 


oceans  of  blood!  This  is  the  ray  of  light  which 
will  sweep  away  the  temples  of  the  false  gods, 
which  will  make  kings  tremble  on  their  thrones, 
will  change  the  course  of  history,  decide  the 
destiny  of  nations,  will  judge  the  world,  and 
renew  the  face  of  the  earth.  This  is  the  ray  of 
light  which  will  traverse  the  ages  and  the  universe 
from  east  to  west,  raising  man  to  the  heavens, 
and  shedding  upon  the  earth,  as  the  least  of  its 
benefits,  the  boasted  marvel  of  modern  civilisation. 
What  think  you  of  this  ray  of  light,  my  brethren  ? 

I  have  seen  the  star  of  day  arrived  at  the  end  of 
his  course,  descend  to  the  horizon  to  lay  himself 
down  on  his  sepulchre.  Nature,  which  contem¬ 
plates  it,  appears  as  if  immediately  drawn  down 
with  it.  Dense  shadows  spread  over  its  inanimate 
face,  engulfing  soon  the  highest  summits  of  the 
mountains,  and  rendering  darkness  itself  visible 
in  the  depths  of  “those  unknown  spaces  whose 
eternal  silence  terrifies  thought.”*  At  the  same 
time  life  itself  seems  dried  up  at  its  source. 


*  Pascal. 


THE  SON  OF  MAN . 


190 

Man  himself  becomes  benumbed,  and  sleeps.  It 
is  night,  sister  of  death,  when  no  man  can  work. 
But  soon,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  abyss,  we 
see  one  peak  gilded  with  light,  then  another,  and 
another.  What  is  happening?  See  in  the  distance 
waves  of  light,  which  descend  and  spread  over  the 
sides  of  the  mountains,  rush  into  the  valleys,  and 
spread  themselves  like  a  flood;  then  suddenly  they 
send  their  rapid  messengers  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth  with  this  appeal:  “Awake!  awake!  ye  who 
sleep,  and  arise  from  among  the  dead!”  The 
earth  opens  its  eyes,  all  the  sounds  of  life  are 
heard  again,  man  goes  forth  from  his  dwelling, 
the  birds  sing,  creation  breaks  forth  again  with  its 
joyous  hymn  of  life.  What,  then,  has  happened? 
Nothing,  I  tell  you.  Perhaps  a  dream  of  light 
while  you  slept.  Anything  you  like,  except  the 
rising  of  the  sun. 

I  say,  my  brethren,  that  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ,  attested  by  witnesses  worthy  of  all 
credit,  is  the  best  explanation  of  the  chain  of 
historic  events  amidst  which  it  took  place.  I  say, 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


191 

therefore,  that  it  unites  in  the  highest  degree  the 
two  conditions  which  establish  the  evidence  of  a 
past  event.  I  say,  indeed,  that  if  it  were  a 
question  of  any  other  event  of  the  sort  which 
make  up  the  annals  of  humanity,  we  should  hold 
any  mind  desperately  obstinate  which  refused  to 
adopt  this  conclusion. 

Why,  then,  will  you  not  believe  in  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  Jesus  Christ?  Because  it  is  a  super¬ 
natural  event?  Ah,  here  we  have  the  word  pro¬ 
nounced  at  last.  Supernatural !  After  this  word, 
people  will  listen  to  nothing  more,  it  is  an  answer 
to  everything.  I  really  believe  it  is  a  method 
adopted  to  oppose  all  demonstration,  and  to  be 
thrown,  in  case  of  need,  in  the  face  of  evidence 
itself. 

We  must  take  care  what  we  are  about  when 
we  handle  such  weapons. 

Is  there  or  is  there  not  a  supernatural  order, 
above  that  which  in  our  stammering  ignorance 
we  call  the  natural  order  ?  This  is  nothing  less 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


192 

than  the  gravest  question  which  has  agitated  the 
mind  of  man  since  there  was  a  mind  of  man  to 
agitate,  for  it  is  really  the  question  of  religion. 
When  we  speak  of  religion,  we  speak  of  relation; 
relation  between  whom,  I  ask,  if  it  is  not  between 
the  inferior  and  dependent  order  of  nature,  and 
the  supernatural  and  sovereign  order  which  the 
mind  conceives  as  above  nature?  Is  this  superior 
order  a  reality,  a  possible  object  of  some  kind  of 
religion?  Does  it  imply  free  interference  with  the 
conditions  of  natural  order,  the  indispensable  con¬ 
dition  of  all  religion  ? 

These  are  questions  into  which  I  shall  not 
enter.  The  brains  of  metaphysicians  are  used 
to  them,  while  mankind  in  general  gives  an 
affirmative  answer  which  also  has  its  weight. 
But  I  will  console  those  who  do  not  recoil  from 
the  admission  of  a  supernatural  event,  by  telling 
them  that  they  are  in  good  company.  There 
are  great  minds,  you  need  not  doubt,  among  the 
number  of  those  who  acknowledge  that  the 
Father  of  Spirits  has  the  power  to  work  miracles, 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


193 


which  signify  wonderful  things,  even  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  His  Son.  Are  there,  on  the  other 
hand,  minds  equally  great,  geniuses  equally 
profound,  who  have  demonstrated  to  themselves 
the  necessary  immobility  of  the  Highest,  so  that 
they  have  reduced  the  Creator  to  be  no  more, 
as  has  been  said,  than  the  “  contemplative 
servant  of  the  works  of  His  right  hand  ?  ”  It 
may  be  so.  But,  after  all,  it  is  not  a  question 
of  great  minds  or  profound  genius ;  it  is  a 
question  for  us,  my  brethren,  who  simply  belong 
to  the  class  of  thinking  beings.  If  the  reasons 
for  our  opinions  are  not  particularly  profound, 
they  are  ours  nevertheless,  and  therefore  the  only 
ones  that  it  suits  us  to  examine  and  weigh 
attentively.  What  are  they  ?  Why  do  we  say 
that  the  admission  of  a  supernatural  event,  such  as 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  repugnant  to  us  ? 

We  say  so  because  of  the  infirmity  of  our  faith, 
of  faith  in  everything  that  is  raised  above  the 
earth,  faith  in  the  invisible,  faith  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word.  Shut  up  in  the  prison  of  our 


o 


194 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


five  senses,  we  make  what  we  can  see  and  touch, 
the  measure  of  what  is. 

We  take  our  infinitely  small,  our  microscopic 
every-day  experience,  for  the  normal  condition 
of  things.  We  call  this  good  sense  !  Yes,  if  that 
is  good  which  draws  us  downwards.  It  is  the 
good  sense  which  Vinet  somewhere  calls,  “the 
inspirer  of  the  most  commonplace  moments  of 
life,  and  the  genius  of  the  dullest  members  of 
society.” 

We  talk  of  the  implicit  faith  of  the  ignorant. 
Do  you  not  suppose  that  they  also  have  their 
incredulity  ?  Go  and  tell  one  of  them  that  the 
earth  turns  round  the  sun,  he  will  shrug  his 
shoulders.  Does  he  not  see  that  it  is  just  the 
contrary  ?  Go  and  tell  him  that  three  thousand 
miles  away  there  are  people  walking  with  the 
heavens  beneath  their  heads  and  the  earth  above 
their  feet;  he  will  be  angry,  and  probably  ask  you 
if  you  take  him  for  a  simpleton.  We  are  all 
more  or  less  infected  with  this  vice ;  we  do  not 
like  to  believe  what  we  cannot  see.  Well,  be  it 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


195 


so.  Only  we  must  be  willing  to  go  where  this 
leads  us.  And  take  care  that  you  do  not  strain 
at  the  gnat  and  swallow  the  camel. 

You  have  not  witnessed  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ,  nor  have  I ;  then  we  will  not  believe 
it ;  this  is  what  is  said.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  understood  that  we  believe  what  we  do  see. 
Now  I  am  going  to  tell  you  what  I  see,  and 
which  you  must  see  also. 

Jesus  conceived  a  plan.  He  understood  the 
execution  of  it,  and  it  has  been  carried  out  with 
the  most  complete  success. 

In  order  to  make  this  clearer,  I  quote  from  an 
illustrious  author,  Bourdaloue,  who  in  his  turn 
quotes  St.  Augustine:  “When  Jesus  Christ,  at 
the  age  of  thirty  years,  after  an  obscure  and 
hidden  life,  willed  at  length  to  manifest  Himself 
to  the  world  and  to  preach  to  it  an  entirely  new 
law,  to  what  did  He  aspire  ?  To  the  most 
astonishing  thing,  to  nothing  less  than  to  creating 
a  new  world,  to  abolishing  superstitions  more 
ancient  than  the  memory  of  man,  with  which  the 


196 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 


people  held  that  all  their  happiness  was  con¬ 
nected,  which  they  preserved  like  the  heritage 
of  their  fathers,  for  which  they  fought  with  more 
ardour  than  for  their  lives,  which  they  considered 
to  be  the  foundation  of  their  republics  and  their 
states.  It  was  necessary  to  bring  them  to  re¬ 
nounce  errors  which  the  custom  of  almost  every 
age  had  sanctioned,  which  were  supported  by 
the  example  of  all  nations,  which  favoured  all  the 
interests  of  nature,  and  the  possession  of  which 
could  not  be  disturbed  without  almost  disturbing 
the  universe.  This  was  what  had  to  be  pulled 
down.  But  what  was  it  that  had  to  be  built  up  ? 
An  austere  and  inconvenient  law,  a  blind  faith, 
a  religion  contrary  to  all  the  inclinations  of  the 
flesh.  What  an  enterprise  !  and  what  was 
necessary  to  the  achievement  of  it  ?  It  was 
necessary  that  He  should  be  exposed  to  having 
all  the  powers  of  earth  for  enemies, — the  wisdom 
of  politicians,  the  authority  of  sovereigns,  the 
cruelty  of  tyrants,  the  zeal  of  idolators,  the  im¬ 
piety  of  atheists. 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


197 


“  ‘  If  then,’  ”  says  St.  Augustine,  “  ‘Jesus  Christ, 
before  taking  the  first  step  towards  the  execution 
of  this  great  design,  had  communicated  with  one 
of  the  philosophers  of  that  age,  a  man  of  good 
sense  and  judgment,  had  opened  His  mind  to 
him,  telling  him  besides  that  He  would  not 
avail  Himself  of  any  of  the  means  dictated  by 
human  prudence,  that  He  would  rely  neither 
upon  credit  nor  riches,  learning  nor  eloquence, 
would  not  this  philosopher  have  treated  the  enter¬ 
prise  as  a  chimera  and  a  folly?  Nevertheless, 
this  is  what  was  done,  this  is  the  marvel  that  we 
are  contemplating.’” 

What  is  to  be  said  now  ?  Alone  with  His 
secret  thoughts,  with  a  superhuman  skill  and 
foresight  that  confounds  us,  He  succeeded  in 
destroying  the  indulgent  and  ancient  superstitions 
which  humanity  had  invented  for  itself,  and 
which  were  a  shelter  at  once  for  its  aspirations, 
its  inclinations,  and  its  vices  ;  and  in  substituting 
something  else  fashioned  with  infinite  skill, 
taking  possession  of  souls  and  moulding  them  at 


198 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


will,  attracting  them  at  first,  to  subjugate  them 
afterwards  to  its  yoke. 

He  succeeded  in  making  men  believe  in  a  living, 
free,  and  holy  God,  whose  apparently  singular  and 

capricious  decrees  must  be  adored  by  all  as  the 

« 

unquestionable  decrees  of  wisdom  itself ;  whose 
goodness  must  be  praised  even  in  the  lowest  depths 
of  suffering  and  distress.  He  succeeded  in  making 
men  believe  in  a  life  to  come,  inaugurated  by  a 
terrible  judgment  leading  to  an  eternity  of  joy  or 
an  eternity  of  pain,  for  which,  therefore,  every¬ 
thing  here  below  must  be  sacrificed. 

He  succeeded  in  imposing  a  life  of  renunciation 

\ 

and  of  self-sacrifice,  quite  as  contrary  to  nature 
as  all  the  prodigies  called  miracles.  He  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  commanding  even  for  His  person  an 
unheard-of  respect,  in  causing  Supernatural  powers 
to  be  attributed  to  Him,  and  even  in  causing 
Himself  to  be  worshipped  in  consequence  of  an 
asserted  resurrection.  For  the  establishment  of 
this  doctrine  He  caused  oceans  of  blood  to  flow, 
and  whose  blood  ?  The  blood  of  His  disciples  ! 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


199 


But  a  living  God,  a  life  to  come,  a  retribution, 
a  resurrection :  all  these  are  things  which  we 
cannot  see,  which  are  never  seen ;  empty  phan¬ 
toms,  therefore,  on  which  we  have  but  to  breathe 
to  cause  them  to  disappear  with  the  rest.  You 
cannot  believe  what  you  cannot  see  !  What  do 
you  see  now  in  the  success  of  the  enterprise  of 
Jesus  Christ?  Henceforth  you  will  only  be  able 
to  see  one  thing  in  it ;  the  most  cruel  and  the 
most  colossal  mystification*  Humanity  is  the 
victim  of  the  darkest  enterprise,  conducted  with 
the  most  consummate  perfidy.  It  struggles  under 
the  pressure  of  I  know  not  what  power  from 
without,  of  a  veritable  vampire  which  has  at¬ 
tached  itself  to  its  soul  to  devour  it.  It  is  beset 
by  a  dream  which  it  cannot  dissipate,  and  to 
which,  meanwhile,  in  its  naive  illusion  it  sacrifices 
everything.  Oh !  what  has  not  already  been 
sacrificed  to  it ! 

I  do  not  know  what  impression  this  view 

produces  on  your  minds.  As  for  me,  when  I 

\ 

lend  my  ear  to  those  words  whose  simple  depth 


200 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


rends  my  heart :  “  If  in  this  life  only  we  have 
hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable,”* 
I  turn  involuntarily  to  the  form  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  I  see  Him  clothed  with  a  new  greatness, 
equal  to  the  first,  but  this  time  it  chills  and 
frightens  me.  It  is  not  merely  an  impostor  that 
I  see  before  me ;  it  is  the  genius,  what  shall  I 
say  ?  the  very  god  of  imposture. 

Rouse  yourselves,  you  whom  He  still  seduces. 
I  remind  you  of  the  sighs,  the  tears,  the  blood 
which  He  has  already  drawn  from  millions  of  our 
brethren,  and  raising  the  standard  of  a  holy 
revolt,  I  exclaim  with  you  :  “  If  there  is  yet  time, 
let  us  crush  this  infamous  person.” 

You  will  not  have  supernatural  light  ? 

On  the  strength  of  this  evidence,  which  places 
the  soul  of  man,  as  regards  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
alternative  of  absolute  hatred  or  entire  adoration, 
I  draw  you  after  me,  and  will  not  permit  you  to 
stop  till  you  are  in  supernatural  darkness  !  You 
will  cry  out  against  this,  I  know.  You  will  ask 

*  i  Cor.  xv.  19. 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


201 


me,  as  if  I  had  robbed  you  of  your  property,  for 
those  shreds  of  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  of 
His  moral  teaching,  of  His  work,  which  you 
profess  to  preserve,  although  they  can  really  no 
longer  be  maintained  on  the  principle  on  which 
you  reject  His  resurrection. 

You  will  not  believe  what  you  have  not  seen; 
still  you  believe  in  a  personal  God  whom  you  have 
mot  seen.  You  will  not  believe  in  what  you  have 
not  seen ;  but  still  you  believe  in  a  life  to  come, 
which  no  man  has  ever  seen.  You  will  not 
believe  in  what  you  have  not  seen;  but,  never¬ 
theless,  you  believe  in  a  plan  of  wisdom  and 
goodness  contradicted  every  day  by  what  you  see. 
You  are  ready  to  believe  in  all  these  things,  yet 
you  argue  against  a  fact  on  account  of  its  super¬ 
natural  character— supernatural  it  is,  it  is  true 
like  the  rest ;  but  on  account  of  its  supreme  im¬ 
portance  in  comparison  with  the  rest,  God  has 
willed  that  it  alone  shall  be  attested  by  witnesses 
most  worthy  of  credit,  and  that  it  shall  reach  you 
supported  on  the  basis  of  the  most  convincing 


202 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


historic  certainty  !  Oh  !  rare,  admirable,  sublime 
inconsequence ! 

Who  knows  whether  we  must  not  say  that  you 
will  not  believe,  precisely  because  you  are  afraid 
of  seeing  too  much  or  too  clearly.  In  any  case  it 
is  impossible  that  you  can  have  escaped  the  im¬ 
pression  which  pierces  the  soul  like  a  sword :  If 
Christ  is  raised — God !  He  is  God  !  I  have  seen 
Him,  He  has  passed,  He  was  there  !  Yes,,  my 
brethren,  if  Christ  is  raised,  God  is  there,  He  is 
in  Christ,  He  has  looked  upon,  He  has  en¬ 
lightened,  I  had  almost  said  He  has  judged  the 
earth  !  If  Christ  is  raised,  death  is  but  a  veil, 
man  lives  again  behind  it.  A  future  awaits  him, 
no  more  doubts,  no  more  uncertainty,  no  more 
excuses !  If  Christ  is  raised,  all  the  words  of 
Christ  are  raised  with  him.  They  shine  as  true 
words  of  life  beyond  and  above  time.  Let  heaven 
and  earth  pass  away;  henceforth  the  words  of 
Christ  will  not  pass  away !  If  Christ  is  raised, 
all  the  invisible  world  is  filled  with  light. 
It  is  like  the  brightness  of  the  sun  suddenly 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


203 


breaking  forth  after  the  feeble  light  of  the 
stars. 

/ 

Now,  we  do  not  like  too  much  light  for  our 
souls.  Twilight  suits  us  better.  A  little  light 
for  the  invisible  guest  which  reminds  us  of  im¬ 
mortality,  but  a  little  darkness  also  for  the  vulgar 
inhabitant  of  earth  who  wishes  to  enjoy  life  while 
he  holds  it.  A  little  light  for  prudent  foresight 
for  to-morrow,  but  a  little  darkness  for  the  press¬ 
ing  desires  of  to-day. 

There  is  that  in  us  which  would  die  in  total 
darkness,  but  there  is  also  that  in  us  which  would 
die  in  perfect  light. 

And  if  we  do  not  wish  that  our  souls  should 
perish,  neither  do  we  wish  that  sin  should  perish. 
I  have  named  it,  sin ;  that  is  to  say,  the  lust  of  the 
flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life, 
the  love  of  this  world,  whether  it  be  empty  and 
frivolous,  vulgar  or  refined ;  sin ;  that  is  to  say, 
earth,  time,  ourselves,  the  present  age,  interest, 
ambition,  idleness,  the  bondage  of  habit,  and  the 
bondage  of  opinion.  Sin  !  it  is  this  which’  closes 


204 


\ 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


our  eyes  to  evidence,  and  our  hearts  to  the  most 
touching  appeals ;  this  it  is  which  perpetually 
throws  shadows  on  the  too  brilliant  points  of 
truth ;  this  is  what  now  disparages  the  august 
form  of  Christ,  now  banishes  it  into  inaccessible 
heights,  rejects,  effaces  it,  tries  to  render  it  in¬ 
tangible  for  fear  of  being  seized  by  it. 

This  it  is  which,  after  having  vainly  tried  during 
the  course  of  ages,  to  rob  Him  of  the  crown  of  His 
divinity  or  of  the  garments  of  His  humanity,  has 
now  changed  its  tactics,  and  concentrates  all  its 
efforts  on  the  resurrection,  knowing  that  to  deny 
Him  this  glory,  at  once  human  and  divine,  is  to 
deny  Him  all  the  rest.  It  is  sin,  the  old  tempter; 
this  is  the  enemy  that  I  have  long  been  seeking. 
I  have  discovered  him  at  last,  I  see  and  recognise 
him. 

But  in  face  of  this  well-armed  adversary  whom 
I  have  just  unmasked,  I  confess  that  I  feel  myself 
all  at  once  powerless,  all  my  strength  has  vanished, 
all  my  resources  are  exhausted ;  there  are  no  more 
arguments  in  my  mind,  nor  expedients  in  my 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


205 


faculties,  no  more  words  ;  my  arms  fall  down  by 
my  side,  and  I  acknowledge  myself  vanquished. 
And  if  instead  of  the  feeble  champion  of  truth, 
who,  after  fighting  according  to  his  strength, 
avows  himself  defeated,  you  had  before  you  in  this 
chair,  one  of  the  masters  of  language,  even  were 
he  the  very  genius  of  language,  arrived  at  this 
point,  in  prospect  of  the  final  encounter,  even  he 
would  have  to  surrender  arms  and  commence  a 
retreat. 

When  sin  holds  the  ground,  my  brethren,  there 
is  neither  man  nor  angel,  there  is  no  power 
either  in  heaven  or  earth,  capable  of  convincing 
an  understanding,  or  of  persuading  a  heart  so 
well  guarded.  God  alone  can  then  carry  on  the 
contest,  God  alone  can  gain  the  victory. 

We  were  speaking  of  the  supernatural.  It  is 
here  especially  that  we  must  do  so.  But  I  believe 
in  the  supernatural,  I  believe  in  it  with  all  my 
heart. 

And  this  is  why  I  have  asked  of  God  to  take 
His  own  cause  in  hand,  and  to  gain  Himself  this 


206 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


victory  over  you,  which  I  know  beforehand  that  I 
shall  have  to  renounce. 

Would  that  I  could,  in  my  acknowledged  and 
demonstrated  weakness,  give  you  an  idea  of  the 
ineffable  privileges  that  await  you  in  faith,  in  a 
Saviour  “  who  was  delivered  for  our  offences, 
and  was  raised  again  for  our  justification.  ”* 
Ah  !  if  our  lost  souls  require  a  spirit  of  regenera¬ 
tion,  our  regenerate  souls  require  no  less  an 
assurance  of  resurrection.  They  want  a  guide  in 
traversing  the  narrow  defiles  of  death.  I  have 
presented  this  Guide  to  you.  How  well  He  has 
been  selected !  It  is  precisely  He  whom  our 
hearts  would  have  demanded. 

Admire  the  infinite  wisdom  and  the  infinite 
goodness  of  God  in  the  adorable  prodigy  of  His 
infinite  power.  Was  it  not  natural,  was  it  not  in 
order  that  the  Son  of  Man,  the  Holy  One  and  the 
Just,  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  the  hero,  the  victim, 
He  who  voluntarily  plunged  into  the  darkness  of 
condemnation,  by  holiness,  by  love  to  sound  its 

*  Romans  iv.  25. 


THE  RISEN  ONE. 


2  07 


depths,  and  to  confront  its  terrors  in  our  stead, 
was  it  not  divinely  wise  that  He  should  also  be 
the  real  initiator  for  us  of  the  evidences  of  im¬ 
mortality  ?  Was  it  not  for  the  Prince  of  Life, 
the  second  Adam,  who  came  to  expiate  the 

miseries  of  the  first,  by  plunging  with  him  into 

• 

the  regions  of  the  dead,  to  find  for  him  the  lost 
path  to  life  ?  We  find  this  so  just,  so  consequent, 

so  natural  (I  purposely  repeat  the  word),  that  we 

\ 

cannot  comprehend  how  it  could  have  been  other¬ 
wise.  Contemplating  His  death,  we  await  His 
resurrection.  Contemplating  His  resurrection,  we 
await  our  own,  as  if  we  beheld  it  already.  We 
who  are  quickened  with  Christ,  do  we  not  also 
feel  ourselves,  as  St.  Paul  says,  raised  up  together 
with  Him  ? 

Ah !  if  in  reconciling  us  to  death,  He  did 
not  also  reconcile  us  to  life,  what  would  hinder 
us  from  perpetually  sighing  with  all  our  might 
for  the  blessed  hour  of  our  departure  ?  Oh ! 
beyond  !  beyond  !  on  the  other  side  ! 

Here  we  give  up  our  lives,  there  we  shall  re- 


208 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


cover  them !  Here  we  sow  in  tears,  there  we 
shall  reap  with  songs  of  triumph  !  Here  we  part 
among  the  tombs,  there  we  shall  meet  again  in  a 
paradise  of  delights !  Here  we  bear  our  crosses, 
there  we  shall  receive  crowns  of  glory !  Here  we 
die  daily  with  Christ,  there  we  shall  eternally 
reign  with  Him  !  And  what  is  it  that  separates 
us  yet  in  this  sad  present  from  this  other  side,  so 
much  to  be  desired  ?  It  is  that  which  was  once 
most  terrible  and  alarming.  But  henceforth  all 
is  changed. 

There  was  once  a  famous  cape  reputed  to  he 
the  fatal  barrier  to  the  navigation  of  the  ocean. 
Of  all  those  whom  the  wind  or  the  currents  had 
drawn  into  its  waters,  it  was  said  that  none  had 
reappeared.  It  was  called  the  Cape  of  Storms. 
A  bold  navigator  determined  to  surmount  the 
obstacle.  He  opened  the  route  to  the  East 
Indies,  acquired  for  his  country  the  riches  of  the 
world,  and  changed  the  Cape  of  Storms  into  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

In  this  great,  this  glorious  voyage  to  a  happy 


THE  RISEN  ONE . 


209 


eternity  which  we  are  all  taking,  there  will  be  in 
one  part  a  stormy  cape  to  double.  But  let  us 
henceforth  give  it  its  true  name.  Christ  re¬ 
christened  death  on  that  day,  when  by  death 
itself  He  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light. 


p 


V. 


C&e  King. 

“  Pilate  therefore  said  unto  him,  Art  thou  a  King  then  ? 
Jesus  answered,  Thou  sayest  that  I  am  a  King.  To  this  end 
was  I  born.” — JoJm  xviii.  37. 


WE  are  arriving  at  the  end  of  our  study. 

It  only  remains  rapidly  to  sum  up  our 
conclusions.  And  these  conclusions  are  so  plain, 
that  they  shine  by  their  own  light.  The  Son 
of  Man,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  has  proved 
His  thesis.  He  has  come  forth  victorious,  in  the 
most  complete  and  absolute  sense  of  the  word, 
from  that  threefold  trial  under  which  we  all 
succumb.  The  trial  of  sin  by  His  perfection ; 
of  suffering  by  His  sacrifice;  of  death  by  His 


THE  KING. 


21  I 


resurrection.  The  result  of  this  victory  is  royalty. 

If  He  had  been  extinguished  in  the  grave,  all 
His  promises  and  all  our  hopes  would  have  been 
extinguished  with  Him.  To  be  raised  again  was 
to  receive  and  leave  a  testimony — the  sovereign 
testimony  of  God  Himself.  It  was  to  affirm  with 
indisputable  authority,  that  this  present  life  is 
not  a  comedy,  which  is  over  when  the  lights  are 
extinguished,  but  a  solemn  scene  on  which  the 
actual  drama  of  eternity  is  represented.  If  Christ 
were  dead,  we  must  do  as  the  disciples  did,  go 
back  to  our  affairs  with  one  reminiscence  the 
more,  and  one  great  illusion  the  less.  If  Christ 
was  raised,  we  must  also  do  as  they  did ;  believe, 
be  converted,  lose  our  lives  that  we  may  find 
them.  This  was  why  the  resurrection  was  con¬ 
sidered  the  vital  point  in  early  times,  and  for 
the  dawning  of  eternal  life  on  earth,  it  will  ever 

remain  what  air  and  light  are  for  the  blooming 

» 

of  a  flower. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  before  the  resurrection 
that  the  words  “  It  is  finished!”  were  pronounced. 


212 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


And  in  order  fully  to  understand  the  consumma¬ 
tion  of  the  work  of  the  Son  of  Man,  which  we 
will  try  to  give  an  account  of  to-day,  we  must 
go  back  a  few  steps,  and  fix  our  attention  on  what 
I  have  already  called  the  culminating  point  in 
His  earthly  career;  on  that  extraordinary  death 
to  which  we  have  seen  Him  led,  by  the  exigencies 
even  of  His  human  perfection,  expecting  that 
He  will  be  led  thence  to  a  glorious  eternity  and 
a  definite  triumph. 

You  have  often  observed  that  remarkable  title 
which  was  placed  (need  we  say  whether  by  His 
blind  enemies,  or  by  His  more  clear-sighted 
adorers?)  over  the  head  of  Jesus  on  the  cross. 
There  might  be  read  in  the  three  languages  of 
the  world:  “This  is  the  King  of  the  Jews.” 
There  are  only  three  words  too  many  in  the 
sentence.  For  strict  truth,  it  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  have  written :  “  This  is  the  King.” 
But  the  error  is  more  apparent  than  real,  for 
the  King  whom  the  Jews  expected,  and  who  had 
been  promised  to  them,  was  not  to  be  the  King  of 


THE  KING. 


213 


their  nation  only,  but  the  King  of  the  whole  earth. 
All  nations,  according  to  the  ancient  prophecies, 
were  to  range  themselves  under  His  banner. 

Strange  and  paradoxical  truth  !  This  Crucified 
One  is  the  King,  in  the  true  and  absolute  sense 
of  the  word.  The  King  of  humanity,  the  King 
of  Kings.  All  the  greatness  before  which  men 
have  hitherto  prostrated  themselves,  crumbles 
into  dust  on  the  appearance  of  this  new  majesty. 
The  greatness  of  the  gods  is  that  which  is  most 
abased.  Where  now  are  your  altars,  your  sanc¬ 
tuaries,  your  carved  images,  ye  gods  of  Olympus 
and  the  Pantheon,  now  that  the  growing  shadow 
of  the  cross  of  Golgotha  covers  the  earth  ?  It 
has  been  said  with  reason,  that  the  gods  departed 
from  the  day  when  the  Crucified  One  was  lifted 
up  on  His  throne  of  ignominy.  The  greatness 
of  men  is  brought  low  also,  for  all  greatness 
which  does  not  consist  in  self-renunciation,  has 
been  convicted  by  it  of  folly  and  littleness,  and 
all  true  abnegation  was  but  a  distant  homage 
rendered  to  that  unsurpassable  prodigy  of  abnega- 


214 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


V  % 

tion.  Before  Him,  indeed,  everything  is  dimi¬ 
nished  or  eclipsed. 

And  what  is  especially  remarkable,  is  that 
this  is  not  an  accidental  co-incidence.  The  cross 
is  truly  a  throne.  The  Crucified  One  reigns 
because  He  was  crucified.  By  reason  of  the 
constitution  of  the  world,  such  as  sin  has  made 
it,  it  was  necessary  that  He  should  be  crucified. 

Innocent  humanity  would  not  have  prostrated 
itself,  regenerate  humanity  will  not  prostrate  it¬ 
self,  except  before  a  King  of  glory.  Fallen 
humanity,  humanity  in  process  of  being  raised 
up,  could  only  prostrate  itself  before  a  King  of 
sorrows  and  humiliations.  It  must  not  be  said 
that  Christ  reigns  in  spite  of  His  cross,  but  in 
virtue  of  it.  He  announced  this  Himself,  with 
a  depth  and  accuracy  of  pre-vision  which  con¬ 
founds  the  imagination,  when  He  said  at  one 
time  to  Nicodemus:  “As  Moses  lifted  up  the 
serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the 
Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 


THE  KING. 


215 


eternal  life;”*  and  at  another  time  to  His  disci- 

*  \ 

pies:  “And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  me.”+ 

Some  hours  before  this  novel  sort  of  elevation, 
Pilate  asked  Him:  “Art  thou  a  King  then?” 
“  To  this  end  was  I  born,”  He  replied,  as  if  He 
would  say:  “I  am  of  royal  rank;  I  have  the 
vocation  to  royalty ;  I  only  wait  for  the  diadem 
and  the  sceptre.”  The  day  of  His  crucifixion 
was,  in  fact,  the  day  of  His  coronation;  on  that 
day,  contrary  to  their  own  intentions,  the  powers 
of  earth  resigned  Him  and  clothed  Him  with  the 

•  f  , 

insignia  of  a  new  royalty,  before  which  they  were 
all  to  bow  down  or  to  be  crushed.  The  prophet 
had  said:  “The  kings  of  the  earth  take  coun¬ 
sel  together,  against  the  Lord  and  against  his 
anointed. •  ' 
They  take  counsel  with  infamy  and  contempt, 
to  crush  Him  whom  they  have  rejected  in  their 
blindness. 

“Yet,”  saith  the  Lord,  “have  I  set  my  king 
*  John  iii.  14,  15.  +  John  xii.  32.  J  Psalm  ii.  2. 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


2Ij5 

upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion.  I  shall  give  thee 
the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  utter¬ 
most  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession.  Be 
wise  now  therefore,  O  ye  kings :  be  instructed 
ye  judges  of  the  earth.  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be 
angry.  Blessed  are  all  they  that  put  their  trust 
in  him.”* 

Now,  this  reign  is  nothing  else  than  the  realisa¬ 
tion  of  His  plan,  as  I  explained  it  to  you  in  the 
first  discourse.  We  will  now  consider  successively, 
the  nature  and  duration  of  it. 

I  will  define  the  nature  of  the  reign  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  one  word: — Jesus  Christ  is  the  legiti¬ 
mate  sovereign  of  souls. 

To  say  this,  is  especially  to  say  that  He  only 
exercises  an  empire  by  consent,  freely  accepted 
by  a  people  possessed  of  free  will.  Any  idea  of 
constraint  is  contradictory  to  the  idea  of  the 
reign  of  Jesus  Christ.* 

There  are  in  man  three  powers,  which  come 
in  turn  to  the  foot  of  His  cross,  to  render  to  Him 

*  Psalm  ii.  6,  8,  io,  12. 


THE  KING. 


21 7 


the  free  homage  of  absolute  submission.  These 
three  powers  constitute  man.  Whoever  possesses 
them,  possesses  the  soul  itself.  He  is  master  of 
that  kingdom. 

Conscience  is  the  first.  It  is  the  minister  of 
justice  in  the  internal  government  of  our  lives. 
It  is  this  which  proclaims  the  law  of  duty,  and 
enjoins  the  accomplishment  of  it.  It  may  be 
resisted,  but  not  dethroned.  It  says  to  the 
creature  :  “  Thou  oughtest ; — obey.”  It  is  the 
noblest  and  most  precious  relic  of  man,  that 
sublime  monument  of  the  past  which  Cicero  has 
so  magnificently  defined  in  his  actual  state,  by 
calling  him  a  mind  in  ruins.  It  is  to  this  that  our 
illustrious  compatriot  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau  bore 
witness  in  these  immortal  words :  “  Conscience, 
conscience !  divine  instinct,  immortal  and  celestial 
voice ;  sure  guide  of  an  ignorant  and  shallow, 
yet  intelligent  and  free  being ;  infallible  judge 
of  good  and  evil,  which  renders  man  like  to  God. 
Thou  art  the  cause  of  the  excellence  of  his 
nature  and  the  morality  of  his  actions.  Without 


2l8 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


thee,  I  know  of  nothing  that  will  raise  me  above 
the  beasts,  except  the  melancholy  privilege  of 
falling  into  error  after  error  by  the  aid  of  an 
understanding  without  a  guide,  and  a  reason 
without  principles.” 

But  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  every  conscience 
bows  down,  and  has  no  wish  but  to  be  a  docile 
interpreter  of  the  evidence  which  subjugates  it. 
It  is  silent,  for  it  is  endeavouring  to  comprehend 
a  new  lesson  which  will  supersede  all  others. 
This  extraordinary  Being,  crowned  with  righteous¬ 
ness  and  infamy,  dying  because  He  loves  us, 
dying  because  we  do  not  love  Him,  captivates, 
moves,  and  troubles  it,  and  draws  forth  sighs  and 
tears.  We  have  seen  the  sinner  weep  in  shame 
and  remorse,  but  the  righteous,  or  he  who 
thought  himself  so,  weeping  tears  of  repentance 
and  love;  it  required  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
give  such  a  spectacle  to  the  world. 

Now,  some  power  of  God  stirs  up  the  most 
ancient  memories,  the  most  hidden  thoughts,  the 
secret  things  of  the  soul,  in  such  a  manner  as 


THE  KING. 


219 


to  cover  with  confusion  the  conscience  of  ap¬ 
parently  the  most  exemplary  lives.  Count  up 
the  penitents  who  come  here  to  smite  upon  their 
breasts.  You  will  meet  together  with  the  lowest 
among  men,  the  first  among  saints,  and  it  will 
not  be  the  latter  who  will  shed  the  least  bitter 
tears.  You  will  no  longer  hear  each  one  accusing 
his  brother,  but  each  accusing  himself,  as  if 
desirous  of  finding  himself  the  most  guilty,  of 
obeying  a  novel  sort  of  emulation.  And  really 
this  must  be  a  strange  spectacle  to  those  who 
have  not  the  key  to  it.  Here  is  St.  Paul,  the 
most  righteous  and  exemplary  of  the  model 
Pharisees,  with  the  best  opinion  of  himself,  and 
blessing  God  for  his  virtues.  He  meets  upon  his 
way  with  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ;  immediately 
he  begins  to  speak  of  himself  as  the  chief  of 
sinners,  sold  under  sin,  one  in  whom  dwelleth  no 
good  thing.  And  how  often  this  has  been  re¬ 
produced.  As  often  as  a  soul  is  awakened  to 
salvation  by  the  only  name  given  amongst  men, 
Jesus  Christ  crucified,  and  in  exact  proportion  to 


220 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


the  earnestness  and  sincerity  of  the  look  fixed 
upon  Him. 

But  do  not  suppose  that  He  wounds  con¬ 
sciences  to  break  them.  Another  prodigy.  He 
only  wounds  in  order  to  heal,  just  as  a  spirited 
horse  can  only  be  trained  by  being  subdued. 

We  said  not  long  ago  that  there  is  no  true 
holiness  here  below,  but  a  crucified  holiness. 
Before  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  this  truth  is 
made  plain  to  the  conscience  with  the  force  of  a 
revelation  or  of  a  discovery,  which  suddenly  takes 
possession  of  it,  and  opens  to  it  the  prospect  of 
being  raised  up  and  perfected. 

It  passes  in  review  the  cruel  drama  of  Calvary, 
enters  into  it,  takes  part  in  it,  and  longs  to  share 
the  sorrows  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows  by  being 
crucified  with  Him.  It  longs  to  use  the  bold 
expression  of  St.  Paul  :  “  To  fill  up  that  which 
is  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ.”* 

And  in  proportion  as  it  plunges  into  this  sacred 
source,  it  learns  in  turn  renunciation,  by  associating 

*  Col  i.  24. 


THE  KING. 


221 


itself  with  the  abasement  of  the  Son  of  Man ; 
submission,  by  associating  itself  with  voluntary 
submission  ;  the  spirit  of  sacrifice,  by  associating 
itself  with  this  complete  gift  of  Himself.  As 
Christ  abases  Himself,  not  by  rejecting  life  but 
by  sanctifying  it,  the  disciple  will  learn  to  use 
this  world  as  not  abusing  it,  will  know  how  to 
bear  poverty  or  riches,  how  to  be  abased  and  how 
to  abound,  in  whatsoever  state  he  is,  therewith 
to  be  content.  As  Christ  submitted  to  what  was 
apparently  the  most  unjust  dispensation,  not  as 
to  a  blind  necessity,  but  as  to  the  wise  will  of 
His  Father,  the  disciple  will  see  in  everything  the 
holy  will  of  the  supreme  Lord  of  circumstances ; 
and  by  the  spirit  in  which  he  will  accept  the 
most  mysterious  trials,  he  will  know  how  to  make 
them  conduce  to  his  good  no  less  surely  than  the 
richest  blessings. 

As  Christ  summed  up  His  entire  work  in  the 
gift  of  Himself,  as  He  gave  His  life  an  oblation 
for  His  own,  and  did  not  shrink  from  death  to 
save  them  from  condemnation,  the  disciple  will 


222 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


feel  himself  by  degrees  detached  from  self;  he 
will  understand  that  charity  consists  in  giving 
his  life,  and  that  in  Christ  no  man  liveth  to 
himself,  but  to  Christ ;  that  is  to  say,  for  those 
suffering  members  of  His  body  whom  He  has 
left  us  to  seek  out,  to  solace,  and  to  save. 

We  shall  see  at  length  what  was  never  yet  seen. 
We  shall  see  the  saint ;  an  image  always  more  or 
less  imperfect  of  a  reality  which  presents  itself 
to  the  mind  with  perfect  precision.  Where  is 
the  Christian  so  little  advanced  that  he  does  not 
say  in  the  depths  of  his  soul:  “To  me  to  live  is 
Christ  ?  ” 

Ah  !  we  are  far  enough  indeed,  no  doubt,  from 
this  life,  which  is  Christ.  But,  however  far  the 
idea  may  be  raised  above  us,  in  the  recesses  of 
our  minds,  in  our  highest  aspirations  and  our 
thoughts,  it  appears  clear,  practicable,  reasonable! 
I  do  not  appeal  only  to  confirmed  Christians,  I 
appeal  to  the  indifferent,  I  appeal  even  to  adver¬ 
saries,  and  I  draw  from  them  this  avowal,  that 
Christ  is  the  light  which  lighteth  every  man  that 


THE  KING. 


223 


cometh  into  the  world,  a  light  which  will  never 
be  surpassed.  He  is  to  the  conscience  what 
conscience  is  to  man,  He  is  the  ruler  of  con¬ 
sciences,  let  us  say  He  is  the  ruler  Himself  of 
humanity.  He  is  seated  upon  the  highest  throne 
within  us,  He  reigns,  and  will  never  be  dethroned. 

A  second  centre  in  us  is  the  heart ;  rarely  in 
accord  with  the  conscience,  indeed,  habitually 
at  war  with  it.  Jesus  did  not  establish  His 
empire  less  legitimately  over  the  heart ;  He  reigns 
by  love,  after  having  conquered  by  repentance. 

Have  you  ever  reflected  on  the  unique  and 
touching  phenomenon  of  the  attachments  which 
the  Son  of  Man  inspired  for  His  name  and  per¬ 
son  in  the  bosom  of  humanity.  An  illustrious 
orator,  Lacordaire,  struck  with  the  ephemeral 

t 

character  of  our  affections,  which  even  the  best 
of  them  appear  to  be  only  abortive  attempts, 
condemned  to  be  dissolved  sooner  or  later  in 
the  cold  shadows  of  the  sepulchre,  has  taken 
pleasure  in  bringing  out  in  a  page  almost  sublime, 
the  different  character  of  those  which  Jesus  has 


224 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 


in  all  ages  inspired.  He  says  :  “  There  is  a  Man 
whose  ashes  after  eighteen  centuries  are  not  cold, 
and  who  is  born  again  daily  in  the  thoughts  of 
an  innumerable  multitude  of  men.  There  is  a 
Man  whose  steps  are  followed  by  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  human  race  without  ever  wearying, 
and  who,  entirely  disappeared  though  He  be, 
beholds  Himself  followed  by  this  crowd  into  all 
the  scenes  of  His  former  pilgrimage.  There  is 
a  Man,  dead  and  buried,  whose  sleeping  and 
waking  are  watched,  whose  every  word  vibrates 
still,  and  produces  more  than  love — produces 
virtues  which  fructify  in  love.  There  is  a  Man 
who  was  fastened,  ages  ago,  to  a  gibbet,  yet 
millions  of  adorers  take  Him  down  every  day 
from  the  throne  of  His  execution,  kneel  before 
Him,  prostrate  themselves  so  low  that  the  blood 
rushes  to  their  faces,  and  kiss  His  bleeding  feet 
with  invincible  ardour.  There  is  a  Man  beaten, 
killed,  crucified,  whom  an  unspeakable  passion 
resuscitates  from  death  and  infamy  to  enthrone 
Him  in  the  glory  of  an  unfailing  love,  which 


THE  KING. 


225 


finds  in  Him,  peace,  honour,  joy,  even  to  ecstasy. 
There  is  a  Man  pursued  in  His  execution  and 
in  His  tomb  by  an  inextinguishable  hatred,  and 
who,  asking  for  apostles  and  martyrs  among  all 
posterity,  finds  apostles  and  martyrs  in  the  bosom 
of  all  generations.  In  a  word,  there  is  a  Man, 
and  He  is  the  only  one  who  has  founded  His 
love  upon  earth;  and  this  Man,  it  is  Thou,  O  Jesus 
— whose  name,  at  this  moment,  moves  me  to 
tenderness,  and  draws  from  me  these  accents 
which  trouble  me  and  which  I  do  not  compre¬ 
hend.” 

This  is  the  fact.  It  strikes  us  so  little,  because 
we  are  so  accustomed  to  contemplate  it.  But 
a  moment’s  attention  will  render  it  wonderful. 

To  gain  a  heart,  is  it  not  one  of  the  most 
rare  and  difficult  things?  To  gain  the  heart  of 
one  man ;  to  obtain  an  affection,  not  only  of 
caprice  or  interest,  but  the  permanent  gift,  the 
entire  sacrifice  of  a  heart — can  we  hope  ever 
really  to  attain  it  ?  Imagine  yourself  the  object 
of  this  enterprise.  Your  heart  is  the  conquest 

Q 


226 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


to  which  one  of  your  fellows  aspires.  What 
art  must  he  not  employ  in  his  approaches  !  How 
you  will  bargain  for  yourself.  What  inward 
reserves  you  will  make,  inclining  only  to  give 
yourself  conditionally,  always  ready  to  take  your¬ 
self  back,  which  is  really  not  to  give  yourself 
at  all.  Then,  how  many  influences  will  come 
afterwards  to  wear  out  the  sentiment ;  time, 
habit,  absence,  presence,  weariness,  deception, 
reciprocal  exigencies.  Let  us  make  our  confes¬ 
sions  without  reserve,  to  bring  out  the  glory  of 
the  Saviour,  who  claims  as  His  own  the  entire, 
the  absolute  gift  of  our  hearts,  the  heart  of  every 
man  in  every  age,  and  who  succeeds  in  obtaining 
them  in  the  exact  measure  in  which  He  succeeds 
in  convincing  their  consciences  of  sin,  and  in 
raising  them  by  sanctifying  them. 

But  what  attractions,  what  charms,  what  re¬ 
sources  unknown  before,  does  He  employ  to  work 
this  prodigy  ?  What  attractions  ?  Does  it  not 
appear  as  if  He  had  engaged  to  clash  with  all 
the  inclinations,  and  to  succeed  against  all  the 


THE  KING. 


22  7 


rules  of  love  ?  The  prophet  said  of  Him  :  “There 
is  no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  him.”*  Never 
was  anything  more  truly  said,  to  judge  by  the 
natural  and  ordinary  course  of  things.  Men  love 
that  which  recalls  the  pleasures  of  sense ;  He 
presents  to  them  only  images  of  mortification 
and  suffering.  Men  love  beauty ;  He  presents 
to  them  a  spectacle  of  horror.  Men  love  suc¬ 
cess,  triumph ;  He  offers  them  the  spectacle 
of  a  most  humiliating  defeat.  And,  nevertheless, 
the  heart  of  man  is  thus  made.  Beauty  is  a 
great  thing ;  but  there  is  something  for  the 
heart  of  man  above  the  most  striking  beauty. 
Natural  affection  is  a  great  thing;  but  there  is 
something  for  the  heart  of  man  above  the  most 
natural  and  tender  affection.  There  is  something 
for  the  mother  above  her  child ;  there  is  some¬ 
thing  for  the  wife  above  her  husband.  Enthusi¬ 
asm  for  genius  is  a  grand  thing ;  we  press  upon 
the  steps  of  great  men,  we  regard  them  with 
an  admiration  almost  superstitious ;  but  there 


*  Isaiah  liii.  2. 


228 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


is  something  for  the  heart  of  man  greater  than 
the  halo  of  the  greatest  men  in  the  greatest 
prestige  of  their  glory.  And  what  is  this,  then, 
for  the  heart  of  man  which  is  above  everything 
else  ?  Above  everything  else,  my  brethren,  there 
is  the  Crucified  One.  But  above  Thee,  O  Jesus, 
for  the  heart  of  man,  there  is  nothing. 

It  is  well  known  how  this  consideration  struck 
the  Emperor  Napoleon,  who  so  well  understood 
men.  In  the  solitude  of  St.  Helena,  reviewing 
the  past  and  meditating  on  the  history  of  the 
most  illustrious  of  the  heroes  of  antiquity,  and 
comparing  the  sentiments  which  they  inspired 
with  those  which  Jesus  Christ  inspired,  he  found 
the  contrast  so  great  that  he  required  nothing 
more  to  convince  him  of  the  divine  and  super¬ 
natural  character  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  says: 

The  Christ  speaks,  and  henceforth  generations 
attach  themselves  to  Him,  by  bonds  closer  and 
more  intimate  than  those  of  blood,  by  a  union 
more  sacred  and  more  imperious  than  any  other 
union  whatever. 


THE  KING. 


229 


“  He  lights  the  torch  of  a  love  which  causes 
self-love  to  die,  which  prevails  above  every  other 
love.  The  founders  of  other  religions  had  not 
even  an  idea  of  this  mystic  love,  which  constitutes 
the  essence  of  Christianity  under  the  beautiful 
name  of  charity.  It  is  because  they  were  not 
inclined  to  run  themselves  aground.  It  is  be¬ 
cause  in  the  task  of  making  himself  beloved, 
man  has  a  profound  conviction  of  his  powerless¬ 
ness.  Thus,  without  contradiction,  the  greatest 
miracle  of  Christ  is  the  reign  of  love.  All  those 
who  sincerely  believe  in  Him,  feel  this  wonder¬ 
ful  supernatural  love  ;  inexplicable  phenomenon, 
impossible  to  the  reason  or  strength  of  man : 
sacred  lire  kindled  upon  earth  by  this  new  Pro¬ 
metheus,  of  which  time,  the  great  destroyer,  can 
neither  lessen  the  force  nor  limit  the  duration. 

“As  for  me,  Napoleon,  this  is  what  I  admire 
the  most,  because  I  have  often  thought  of  it,  and 
this  is  what  proves  conclusively  to  me  the  divinity 
of  Christ.” 

At  length,  the  last  power  of  man,  that  of  the 


230 


THE  SON  OF  MAN . 


mind,  follows  the  two  others,  to  pay  homage  to 
Jesus  Christ.  I  say  follows,  intentionally. 

I  know  that  in  announcing  this  third  sovereignty 
of  the  Son  of  Man,  I  shall  probably  provoke  a 
smile  of  incredulity  from  more  than  one  of  my 
hearers.  What!  He  the  master  of  the  intellect, 
who  said:  “Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,”  who 
chose  fishermen  and  ignorant  men  for  His  first 
disciples.  Who  said  Himself  of  His  doctrine: 

“I  thank  thee,  O  Father,  because  thou  hast  hid 
these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast 
revealed  them  unto  babes!”  It  is  supposed  that 
because  Jesus  Christ  did  not  disdain  the  most 
humble  beings,  that  He  Himself  merits  the  con-  J 
tempt  which  superior  minds  are  pleased  to  bestow 
on  the  immense  majority  of  their  fellow-men.  1 
This  is  because  we  do  not  reflect  that  it  is  the  1 
most  uncommon  and  clearest  sign  of  a  truly  royal 
intellect,  to  comprehend  all  minds,  in  order  to  | 
illuminate  them  with  the  same  light. 

Do  not  remind  me  of  your  philosophers,  and  the 
profundity  of  their  conceptions,  for  it  is  precisely 


231 


THE  KING. 

■  —  — - 

in  the  inaccessible  profundity  of  their  conceptions 
that  I  find  the  most  palpable  testimony  to  their 
powerlessness  in  the  arduous  enterprise  of  founding 
intellectual  sovereignty.  These  famous  words  of 
one  of  those  who  have  been  called  the  masters  of 
modern  thought,  are  well  known.  When  on  his 
death-bed,  surrounded  by  his  most  illustrious  dis¬ 
ciples,  he  said  to  them,  with  sadness:  “I  carry 
one  regret  with  me  to  the  grave, — that  of  having 
been  understood  by  but  one  man  in  the  world ; 
and  he  only  half  understood  me.”  Is  this  what 
you  call  subduing  minds  and  founding  the  universal 
empire  of  thought  ? 

And  observe,  that  these  are  not  mere  casual 
words.  Under  an  appearance  of  simplicity,  they 
express  a  general  truth,  and  every  philosopher 
might  say  as  much,  even  by  reason  of  the  depth 
and  originality  of  his  conceptions. 

The  most  sage  of  sages,  Socrates,  leaves  a 
representative  of  his  ideas,  Plato,  who  compre¬ 
hends  him  in  a  manner,  and  modifies  him  according 
to  his  liking ;  he  leaves  behind  him  again  a  dis- 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 


ciple,  Aristotle,  who  subjects  him  to  a  new  process 
of  transformation,  which  his  disciples,  in  their 
turn,  take  up,  until  the  most  diverse,  opposite,  and 
adverse  schools — the  black  and  white,  in  fact — 
appear  upon  the  theatre  of  philosophy  as  the  con¬ 
tradictory  fruits  of  the  tree  which  the  first  planted. 
The  fact  is,  that  everyone  developing  his  own 
powers,  and  following  the  bent  of  his  genius, 
makes  a  kingdom  of  his  own  thoughts,  where  he 
reigns,  no  doubt,  but  as  a  solitary  monarch;  every 
one  sheds  around  him  a  relative  light,  tinted  with 
the  personality  of  his  genius,  imperfectly  received 
by  the  first  whom  he  enlightens,  and  of  a  nature 
that  will  inevitably  be  changed  in  contact  with 
other  minds;  everyone,  as  is  natural,  takes  himself 
as  the  point  of  departure,  and  wishing  in  his  turn 
to  construct  an  edifice,  glories  in  building  upon 
the  ruins  of  his  predecessors.  Hence  this  flux  and 
reflux  of  human  thought,  oscillating  perpetually 
between  the  invisible  poles  by  which  eternal 
wisdom  has  seen  fit  to  limit  it,  as  it  set  bounds  to 
the  ocean;  hence  those  gigantic  evolutions  which 


THE  KING. 


233 


the  ages  are  ever  making,  never  wearying  but 
never  arriving  at  a  definite  conclusion,  where  the 
mind  might  at  length  find  equilibrium  and  repose. 
Magnificent  spectacle,  true  Titanic  labour,  both 
from  the  prodigious  efforts  which  it  presupposes, 
and  the  prodigious  relapses  to  which  it  is  periodi¬ 
cally  subjected  in  its  vain  attempt  to  scale  the 
heavens. 

Heaven,  the  heaven  of  thought  as  well  as  of  all 
the  rest;  repose  in  the  truth;  heaven,  this  is  what 
Jesus  gives,  but  He  gives  it  to  all  with  equal 
liberality.  He  reveals  it  in  the  light  of  day. 

The  privilege  of  the  simple — and  do  not  disdain 
it — will  be  to  attain  it  by  repairing  to  Him.  The 
privilege  of  genius — and  do  not  disdain  that  either 
— will  be  to  attain  it  under  His  guidance,  by 
applying  to  it  the  vast  resources  of  the  greatest 
intellects.  You  will  see  the  school  of  Jesus 
Christ  collected  together,  repeating  the  same 
lesson,  which  at  the  same  time  satisfies  and 
delights  the  noble  faculty  of  thought;  and  you 
will  see  the  simple  artizan,  whose  mind  is  just 


234 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


awaking,  and  the  profound  doctor  of  this  age, 
whose  mind  is  reposing  after  his  labours,  learning 
to  stammer  it  together.  How  often  have  the 
experiences  of  St.  Augustine  been  repeated  since 
his  time.  It  was  a  common  thing  in  the  early 
ages  of  the  church  to  see  wearied  intellects,  after 
having  tried  in  turn  all  schemes  of  philosophy, 
come  and  take  refuge  humbly  in  the  words  of 
Jesus  Christ,  like  weather-beaten  mariners  coming 
into  port  after  a  storm. 

If  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  understood  their 
task  better,  if  in  a  peaceable  and  faithful  spirit, 
having  at  the  same  time  a  respect  for  human 
thought,  they  knew  better  how  to  testify  of  the 
deep  satisfaction,  the  pure  and  ineffable  joys  that 
intercourse  with  Jesus  Christ  procures  for  the 
noblest  faculties  of  the  mind,  who  can  tell  but 
that  in  our  age,  so  similar  in  many  respects  to 
the  age  of  the  decadence  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
our  tormented  age  condemned  to  the  forced  labour 
of  a  sterile  thought,  we  might  not  see  that  miracu¬ 
lous  fishing  renewed,  which,  in  rescuing  so  many 


THE  KING. 


235 


disheartened  geniuses  from  the  shipwreck  of  false 
wisdom,  give  to  the  Church  her  most  brilliant 
lights  and  most  firm  supports. 

Yes,  there  is  a  noble  labour,  a  sacred  labour  of 
thought;  there  is  a  perilous,  but  always  legitimate 
and  laudable  ambition  to  exercise  the  pure  faculties 
of  the  intellect  in  the  search  for,  and  meditation 
on  truth.  Do  not  let  us  discourage  this  spirit, 
even  when  it  loses  its  way.  To  discourage  mind 
is  to  encourage  matter,  it  is  to  commit  a  crime 
against  humanity.  But  let  us  insist  by  our  teach¬ 
ing,  by  our  example,  by  our  calm  and  enviable 
possession  of  the  truth,  that  Jesus  is  not  less  a 
master  in  this  domain  than  in  the  others.  It  has 
been  admirably  said,  that  great  thoughts  come 
from  the  heart;  is  it  not  natural  that  the  queen 
of  thoughts  should  proceed  from  this  royal  heart, 
to  which  all  hearts  feel  constrained  to  render 
homage  ? 

It  could  not  be  but  that  in  demanding  our 
hearts  He  should  also  demand  our  minds.  What 
He  wishes,  in  order  that  He  may  establish  His 


236 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


reign,  is  not  the  abdication  of  reason  (take  care 
not  to  think  so,  take  care  not  to  suggest  such 
an  idea),  but  the  abdication  of  the  personal  sense,  of 
a  selfish  spirit,  the  abdication  of  pride,  presump¬ 
tion,  prejudice,  of  pre-occupation  with  earthly 
things,  of  all  that  enslaves  the  mind  or  gives 
it  a  false  direction.  It  is  not  slavery  that  He 
offers  us,  He  has  said  Himself  it  is  emancipation : 
“  The  truth  shall  make  you  free.”  *  And  let  not 
the  words  deceive  you.  The  true  free-thinkers 
are  not  those  who  are  at  war  with  Jesus  Christ. 
Let  not  appearances  deceive  you  either  !  People 
talk  to-day  about  the  defeat  of  Jesus  Christ  on 
the  battle-field  of  ideas.  Do  you,  then,  imagine 
that  you  will  be  assisting  at  the  first  of  these 
senseless  revolts  ?  Do  you  not  suppose  that  in 
the  last  century,  in  the  age  of  renaissance ,  in  the 
age  of  the  gnostics,  in  every  age,  there  have  been 
vain  intellectual  enterprises  against  this  illu¬ 
minator  of  the  intellect  ? — clouds  which  have 
passed  over  the  face  of  the  sun  without  dimming 

*  John  viii.  32. 


THE  KING. 


237 


its  brightness  or  turning  it  for  an  instant  from 
its  majestic  course.  You  will  hear  pretended 
sages  crying  upon  the  house-tops,  that  Christianity 
has  had  its  day ;  you  will  hear  the  schools  of 
scepticism  deny  that  there  is  any  truth ;  you  will 
hear  the  materialistic  schools  deny  that  there  is 
any  spirit ;  you  will  hear  the  pantheistic  schools 
deny  God.  When  it  is  true  that  the  evil  is  as 
widely  spread  as  the  noise  it  makes,  make  a 
careful  search  ;  you  will  find  somewhere  a  child 
on  its  knees  repeating  “  Our  Father!”  This 
child  preserves  the  depot  of  truth  for  the  philoso¬ 
phers  and  profound  thinkers  of  the  future. 

Jesus  is  the  centre.  We  wander  for  a  time 
about  the  circumference,  but  whether  we  will  or 
not,  we  always  return  to  Him.  The  mind  of 
man  has  taken  this  bent,  and  will  retain  it. 

Thus,  the  three  powers  within  us  render  homage 
to  the  Son  of  Man,  like  three  ministers  who  bow 
down  to  the  legitimate  sovereign.  But  do  you 
know  what  this  triple  and  free  homage  of  the 
conscience,  the  heart,  and  the  mind  is  ?  This  is 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


238 

what  is  called  adoration.  When  man  has  offered 

that,  he  has  offered  all.  He  has  offered  himself. 

And  such  is  the  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus 

Christ.  Man  has  found  his  God  again,  in  finding 

such  a  man.  The  kingdom  of  God  and  the 

kingdom,  of  Jesus  Christ  are  the  same  thing  in 

the  language  of  the  Gospel. 

•  ,  \ 

To  have  determined  the  nature  of  the  kingdom 

of  Jesus  Christ,  is  to  determine  the  duration  of 

it,  for  an  empire  founded  on  the  mind  of  man  is 

an  empire  founded  upon  a  rock.  As  long  as  man 

is  man,  as  long  as  there  is  within  him  this  triple 

base  of  the  conscience,  the  heart,  and  the  mind, 

Jesus  will  be  the  King  of  it.  The  shortcomings 

of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  will  henceforth  be  the 

shortcomings  of  humanity,  and  the  triumphs  of 

the  reign  of  Christ  will  be  the  progress  and 

triumphs  of  humanity  itself. 

It  has  been  well  said  of  those  who  have  become 

celebrated  conquerors  of  history,  that  it  was  the 

art  or  the  genius,  with  which  they  possessed 

themselves  of  the  aspirations  and  the  genius  of 


THE  KING. 


239 


the  people,  which  led  to  the  accomplishment  of 
their  ambitious  designs.  Nothing  can  resist  a 
nation  which  is  incarnate  in  a  man  ;  nothing  can 
resist  a  man  who  is  for  the  time  the  head  and 
the  heart,  the  living  representative  of  a  nation. 
Let  him  be  called  Alexander  or  Napoleon,  he  will 
obtain  prodigies  of  those  who  devote  themselves 
to  him  because  they  see  themselves  glorified  in 
him.  And  it  requires  nothing  less  than  the 
greatest  errors,  and  the  most  unheard-of  catastro- 
phies,  to  break  the  charm  of  the  magical  alliance 
which  might  otherwise  almost  threaten  the  equili¬ 
brium  of  the  world.  What,  then,  will  not  be  the 
superhuman  power  of  Him  who  has  succeeded  in 
possessing  Himself,  not  of  a  people  and  its 
ephemeral  schemes  to  lead  it  on  to  the  senseless 
objects  of  a  personal  ambition,  but  of  the  human 
mind  itself  in  its  permanent  condition,  to  lead  it, 
by  regenerating  it,  to  the  conquest  of  its  legitimate 
glory  and  its  immortal  elevation  ?  Obstacles  , 
will  doubtless  present  themselves,  gigantic,  in¬ 
cessant,  and  threatening.  The  prince  of  this 


240 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


world  wishes  to  retain  his  prey,  and  puts  every¬ 
thing  in  train  to  prevent  its  being  taken  from 
him.  But  the  enterprise  is  conceived  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it,  and  man  will  disappear  from  the 
earth  before  he  will  defeat  the  victorious  plans 
of  the  Son  of  Man. 

Hence  this  astonishing  spectacle  which  is  pre¬ 
sented  by  the  history  of  the  human  race,  the 
unique  history  of  the  establishment  and  the 
development  of  the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ.  Here 
is  a  power  against  which  everything  rises  up, 
and  which  triumphs  naturally,  and  with  majestic 
superiority.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  is  a  power 
which  borrows  nothing  from  the  ordinary  methods 
by  which  power  is  established,  and  which  has 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  ordinary  enemies  by 
which  every  earthly  power  is  sooner  or  later 
destroyed. 

The  first  of  these  means,  the  first  of  these 
enemies  is  force.  Empires  are  founded  upon  force, 
until  force  overturns  them.  Such  was  Rome, 


THE  KING.  241 

this  monster  of  iron,  which,  for  a  moment,  nearly 
attained  to  crushing  the  whole  world  under 
its  weight,  and  which  appears  to  have  received 
from  Providence  the  mandate  of  existence,  but 
to  put  to  the  proof  at  the  time  of  its  greatest 
power,  the  people  of  Christ  at  the  time  of  their 
greatest  weakness.  What  were  the  first  armies 
of  the  Crucified  One  when  they  spread  themselves 
over  the  earth  ?  A  handful  of  sheep  sent  forth  in 
the  midst  of  wolves,  a  few  men  dispersed  abroad, 
artizans  by  trade,  calling  themselves  the  weak 
things  of  the  world,  the  offscouring  of  the  world, 
the  things  which  are  not ;  raising  up  against 
themselves,  in  the  first  steps  that  they  took,  the 
most  frightful,  destructive  machine,  which  had 
ever  been  seen  on  the  earth.  They  are  seized, 
beaten,  are  about  to  disappear — but  no,  the  party 
is  not  equal.  Tertullian  has  said :  “  The  blood 
of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church.”  Weak¬ 
ness  will  prevail.  Two  centuries  of  persecution, 
and  Rome  will  count  more  Christians  than  soldiers 

1 

in  her  empire.  Eighteen  centuries  of  effort — 

R 


242 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


eighteen  centuries,  during  which  the  trial  has 
been  repeated — and  strength  at  last  will  let  her 
arms  fall  down  by  her  side,  saying :  “  I  give  it  up.” 
Do  you  allege  that  the  Church,  in  its  worst  days, 
has  sometimes  tried  to  use  the  weapon  of  which 
she  ought  to  have  known  nothing  but  the  threats 

and  blows  ?  Ah  !  when  she  tried  to  support  her- 

* 

self  by  force,  she  ran  the  risk  of  greater  perils 
than  she  ever  suffered  from  it. 

And  if  she  wishes  to  assure  her  triumphs  in  the 
world,  she  must  become  as  she  was  in  her  early 
days,  the  weak  thing  of  the  world,  suffering,  sub¬ 
missive,  but  free,  as  the  soul  is  free  when  she 
believes. 

The  second  means  by  which  established  powers 
on  earth  recommend  themselves,  the  second 
enemy  which  sooner  or  later  menances  them,  is 
prestige  ;  that  which  dazzles  the  eyes,  astonishes 
the  mind,  carries  the  imagination  captive ;  the 
prestige  of  art,  of  skill,  of  learning.  All  the  false 
religions  have  had  their  prestige,  until  the  day 
when,  it  having  disappeared,  their  priests  could 


THE  KING. 


243 


not  look  each  other  in  the  face  without  laughing. 
Do  you  ask  what  is  the  prestige  of  the  religion 
which  is  called  Christianity  ?  Its  sole  prestige 
has  been  to  have  none. 

Its  most  astonishing  feature,  and  what  will 
always  be  the  most  surprising  when  it  is  closely 
examined,  is  its  simplicity,  its  extraordinary,  not 
to  say  offensive  simplicity.  What  does  it  offer 
to  the  sight,  what  does  it  offer  to  the  imagination, 
or  to  the  intellect  ?  Look  closely  at  it.  It  offers 
the  bleeding  image  of  the  Crucified  One,  which  was 
to  the  Jews  a  stumbling  block,  and  to  the  Greeks 
foolishness,  and  which  its  adversaries  have  always 
represented  as  ridiculous  or  odious.  There  it  is, 
nevertheless.  It  is  on  this  that  the  eyes  must  be 
fixed,  and  to  this  the  attention  must  be  directed. 
There,  according  to  the  expression  of  St.  Paul,  is 
His  wisdom ;  the  wisdom  of  God,  it  is  true,  and 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth.* 

Do  not  stumble  at  the  almost  heathen  pomp 


*  1  Rom.  i.  16. 


244 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


with  which  so  considerable  a  portion  of  Christianity 
encumbers  its  worship.  I  agree  that  it  is  prestige, 
but  a  threatening  prestige,  a  prestige  which  would 
have  been  a  thousand  times  stifled  without  the 
hidden  virtue,  which  made  it  rise  up  for  our  fathers 
from  this  gilded  coffin,  and  does  not  permit  it  to 
perish  absolutely,  even  for  those  who  are  still  led 
astray  by  its  false  traditions. 

Do  not  stumble  either  at  the  deafening  echoes 
of  so  many  celebrated  speculations,  ancient  and 
modern,  which,  during  the  course  of  ages,  have 
disputed  its  name.  This  is  a  prestige  too,  the 
prestige  of  science  falsely  so  called,  which,  in  every 
age  and  in  every  form,  has  tried  to  introduce  error 
into  the  sanctuary,  and  up  to  the  very  throne  of 
truth,  and  which  would  have  succeeded  a  thousand 
times,  if  the  soul  of  man,  ever  the  same  with  its 
profound  needs,  had  not  been  there  to  reclaim  its 
possession,  while  the  King  was  there  to  preserve 
it  for  him. 

In  a  world  which  only  lives,  as  it  seems,  for 
eclat  and  novelty,  what  seductions  have  not  been 


THE  KING. 


245 


tried  against  the  austere  ascendancy  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  what  attempts  have  not  been  made  to  draw 
away  the  hearts  which  attach  themselves  to  Him ! 
But  a  power,  stronger  than  all  the  power  of  se¬ 
duction,  always  has  dissipated,  and  always  will 
dissipate,  as  in  sport,  the  deceptive  mirages  which 
every  age  has  endeavoured  to  oppose  to  it,  both 
in  the  world  of  mind  and  in  the  world  of  sense. 

Time,  to  which  Jesus  Christ  owes  nothing,  be¬ 
cause  He  appeared  from  the  first  day  such  as  He 
will  be  to  the  end  (and  though  everything  in  time 
was  prepared  for  His  coming,  nothing  in  time 
explains  it,  because  it  was  produced  by  nothing) — 
time,  which  founded  nothing,  will  destroy  nothing. 
Have  you  ever  reflected  on  the  attitude  of  time  in 
relation  to  Jesus  Christ?  It  is  a  very  striking 
thing ! 

Time,  the  great  enemy,  as  it  has  been  called  by 
a  celebrated  diplomatist;  this  slow  thunderbolt, 
which,  as  has  been  said  again,  spares  nothing; 
time,  which  wears  out  everything,  ruins  every¬ 
thing,  buries  everything,  empires  as  well  as 


246 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


systems,  the  monuments  of  thought  as  well  as  the 
monuments  of  stone;  time,  when  it  meets  Jesus 
Christ,  is  at  a  stand,  he  has  recognised  a  master, 
and  suddenly  changes  all  his  ways.  For  the  first 
and  last  time,  he  employs  himself  on  what  he  had  ' 
never  made.  One  thing  is  confided  to  him  which 
will  not  grow  old  in  his  hands.  He  will  take  care 
himself  to  preserve  for  it  the  brilliance  of  un¬ 
fading  youth.  Here  is  something  of  which,  for 
the  first  time,  assuredly,  it  may  be  said  that  in 
the  keeping  of  time,  although  it  grows  old  it  never 
ceases  to  be  new.  Here  is  something — Jesus 
Christ  and  His  church — which  time  will  hence¬ 
forth  bear  lovingly  over  the  torrents  of  ages,  to 
deposit  it  intact  on  the  shores  of  eternity,  as  the 
waters  of  the  deluge  bore  the  ark  over  the  abysses 
which  engulfed  the  ruins  of  the  old  world. 
What  can  I  more  say?  Here  is  something  which 
time  itself  increases  daily  without  altering,  bring¬ 
ing  to  it  unceasingly  new  reinforcements  and  fresh 
supports.  All  the  progress,  all  the  conquests  of 
civilisation,  serve  the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ,  which 


THE  KING. 


247 


in  its  turn  accelerates  the  onward  march  of 
humanity,  henceforth  chained  to  the  car  of  its 
destinies.  Continue,  then,  your  labours,  all  ye 
agents  of  progress  in  human  society!  Continue 
your  labours  ye  learned  men,  consume  your  lives 
in  night  watches;  penetrate  by  your  calculations 
into  the  splendours  of  the  firmament;  descend 
into  the  bowels  of  the  earth ;  extract  from  nature 
her  secrets,  describe  her  wonders  to  us,  let  us 
know  more  of  the  admirable  harmony  which  pre¬ 
sides  over  her  laws. 

Labour  on  ye  working  men,  bring  classes  and 
nations  nearer  together ;  discover  more  rapid 
means  of  conquering  space  and  publishing  thought; 
you  will  only  be  giving  new  wings  to  that  angel 
flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  having  the  everlasting 
Gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  !* 

Labour  on,  ye  learned  men,  grow  pale  over  your 
books ;  teach  us  the  languages  of  all  nations,  their 
manners,  their  traditions,  the  souvenirs  of  their 
past  and  their  aspirations  for  the  future. 

Rev.  xiv.  6. 


248 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


Labour  on  you  also  who  preside  over  the  com¬ 
merce  of  the  world.  Send  your  fleets  over  the 
seas ;  henceforth  you  will  not  bring  the  riches 
which  corrupt  without  taking  in  exchange  the 
riches  which  consist  in  life  eternal. 

Work  on,  then,  all  creatures  together ;  the  Son 
of  Man  enrolled  you  when  He  enrolled  the  soul 
of  man.  Work,  work  !  There  is  no  one  on  earth 
who  is  not  a  labourer  in  His  kingdom,  and  a 
soldier  in  His  conquests. 

We  also,  my  brethren  —  and,  let  it  be  well 
known,  we  especially — rejoice  in  the  true  progress 
of  light,  and  in  all  fruitful  employment  of  human 
activity.  We  applaud  it  with  sincere  joy  of 
heart,  we  urge  it  forward  with  all  our  strength. 
Those  are  blind  who  do  not  perceive  the  direct 
connexion  which  unites  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ 
with  every  movement  of  life  on  the  face  of  our 
planet.  They  work  at  it  themselves,  no  doubt,  in 
their  own  fashion,  but  like  the  dyke,  which  only 
restrains  the  torrent  on  condition  of  precipitating 
its  course.  When  Rome  tried  to  set  bounds  to 


THE  KING. 


249 


thought,  she  caused  the  blessed  Reformation  to 
break  forth.  If  we  try  once  more  to  fetter  the 
legitimate  aspirations  of  humanity,  we  shall  again 
prepare  the  way  for  some  unexpected  triumph  in 
the  sacred  work  of  enfranchising  humanity,  and 
its  regeneration  in  Jesus  Christ.  So  true  it  is 
that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  those 
whom  God  has  predestinated  to  be  conformed  to 
the  image  of  his  Son.  So  true  it  is  that  the  day  is 
coming,  it  draws  near,  it  is  here,  when,  according 
to  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  as  well  as  of  the  New 
Testament,  all  nations  will  bow  down  before  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,  and  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord  will  cover  the  earth,  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea. 

But  why  do  we  speak  of  earth  ?  Earth  is  only 
a  place  of  waiting  and  preparation.  It  is  not  here 
that  the  eternal  destinies  of  humanity  will  be  ful¬ 
filled.  Christ  is  risen  !  Man  survives  death  with 
Him.  Let  us  open  the  gates  of  the  temple  of 
the  future. 

“  After  death,  the  judgment,”  says  St.  Paul. 


250 


1 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


And  Jesus  Christ  Himself  speaks  in  these  terms  of 
this  solemn  and  supreme  manifestation  of  His  reign. 

“  When  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  his  glory, 
and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he 
sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory.  And  before 
him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations :  and  he  shall 
separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd 
divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats :  And  he  shall 
set  the  sheep  on  his  right  hand,  but  the  goats 
on  the  left.  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them 
on  his  right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my 
Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Then  shall  he 
say  also  unto  them  on  the  left  hand,  Depart 
from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  pre¬ 
pared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  And  these 
shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment :  but 
the  righteous  into  life  eternal.”* 

Figures  of  speech,  do  you  say  ? 

Yes,  my  brethren,  grand  and  solemn  figures, 
representing  the  greatest  and  most  solemn  reali- 
*  Matt.  xxv.  31 — 34,  41,  46. 


THE  KING. 


251 


ties.  Let  us  respect  these  figures  which  God 
Himself  has  traced  for  us,  not  being  able  by 
reason  of  our  infirmities  to  make  us  understand 
without  them.  Judgment,  throne,  books  opened, 
sentences  pronounced  and  followed  by  eternal 
accomplishment,  these  are  sublime  monuments 
of  the  future,  as  the  narratives  of  the  creation 
and  the  fall  are  sublime  monuments  of  the  past. 
Let  them  be  engraved  upon  our  minds,  let  us 
constantly  fix  our  attention  upon  them  as  upon 
the  prospect  of  the  most  solemn  moment  of  our 
lives.  It  is  only  some  most  frivolous,  or  most 
superficial  minds,  who  under  a  pretext  of  some 
spurious  spirituality,  repudiate  these  striking  im- 
pressions  and  these  urgent  precepts. 

Besides,  do  you  not  feel  what  imposing  realities 
are  hidden,  or,  if  you  like  it  better,  displayed, 
beneath  the  mantle  of  these  prophetic  revelations  ? 
It  is  in  face  of  these  realities  that  I  place  myself, 
and  there  I  wish  to  leave  you,  before  saying 
Amen  to  these  discourses,  which  God  will  bring 
to  an  end  to-day. 


252 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


In  the  first  place,  I  see  shine  forth  the 
sovereign  and  eternal  glory  of  Him  whom,  with 
the  Scriptures,  we  have  hitherto  called  the  Son 
of  Man,  but  to  whom  the  Scriptures  give  also 
another  name,  for  they  call  Him  indifferently  the 
Son  of  God. 

Faithful  to  our  programme,  we  have  strictly 
confined  ourselves  to  the  study  of  the  human 
character  and  destiny  of  Jesus  Christ;  although, 
no  doubt,  you  have  more  than  once  been  on  the 
point  of  allowing  the  exclamation  of  adoration  to 
escape  you,  which  I  wished  to  reserve  for  the 
moment  when  our  subjugated  souls  could  no 
longer  suppress  it.  Now  the  veil  is  rent.  Our 
eyes  are  opened.  Who,  then,  is  He  whom  you 
contemplate  on  the  throne  of  judgment  to  come, 
consecrated  to  this  supreme  and  supernatural 
ministry  by  these  words:  “The  Father  hath 
committed  all  judgment  unto  the  Son,  that  all 
men  should  honour  the  Son,  even  as  they  honour 
the  Father  ?  Is  He  a  man  ?  Yes,  doubtless, 


*  John  v.  22,  23. 


THE  KING. 


but  what  a  man  !  You  know  Him  henceforth, 
you  have  read  His  mind  and  followed  His  steps 
in  the  path  of  life. 

You  have  seen  the  perfection  of  His  righteous¬ 
ness,  the  mystery  of  His  sufferings,  the  triumph 
of  His  resurrection.  Who  is  this  Man  to  whom 
every  man  must  look  in  order  to  live  ?  Who  is 
this  Man,  unique  among  men  ?  Who  is  this 
Man,  whose  name  alone,  given  to  or  taken 
from  the  world,  makes  light  or  darkness,  holiness 
or  corruption,  hope  or  despair,  life  or  death  ? 
Is  not  this  a  truly  extraordinary  and  manifestly 
supernatural  humanity  ?  Man  in  every  age,  in 
every  place,  has  found  at  once  his  Model,  his 
Master,  his  Judge,  his  Saviour,  his  King,  his  all, 
one  to  whom  he  owes  heart,  and  mind,  and  soul, 
for  time  and  for  eternity.  Must  we  not  bow  the 
knee,  and  veil  our  faces,  exclaiming  like  the  in¬ 
credulous  apostle,  after  the  resurrection :  “  My 
Lord  and  my  God  ?  ” 

This  conclusion  arrived  at,  the  Son  of  Man 
reigns.  I  see  no  premises  to  reason  from  other 


254 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


than  those  placed  by  St.  John  in  the  frontispiece 
of  his  Gospel :  “  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word, 
and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was 
God.  And  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  . 
among  us,  and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  of 
the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace 
and  truth.”* 

That  humanity  should  one  day,  without  know¬ 
ing  it,  have  given  birth  to  the  Sage  of  sages,  the 
Saint  of  saints,  the  King  of  kings,  to  whom  it 
finds  itself  irrevocably  united  by  the  bonds  of  a 
natural  and  eternal  dependence,  is  this  a  prodigy 
more  easily  explained,  than  that  which  in  our 
ignorance  we  call  the  incarnation  ?  Will  in¬ 
telligence  be  for  a  moment  in  suspense,  between 
such  a  miracle  of  chance  and  the  wise  interven¬ 
tion  of  love  ?  I  have  only  wished  to  see  Thy 
humanity,  0  my  Saviour,  and  it  has  brought  me 
to  my  knees  before  the  throne  of  Thy  glory. 

Do  not  ask  me  how  this  is  to  be  explained,  or 
how  it  takes  place ;  I  cannot  tell  you,  I  do  not 

*  John  i.  2,  14. 


THE  KING. 


255 


know,  but  I  adore.  I  do  not  know,  but  I  bow 
down  before  something  which  in  those  heights 
where  thought  is  powerless,  remains  clear  to  my 
eyes  with  a  certainty  of  faith  which  is  equal  to 
evidence.  Before  something  which  everything 
demonstrates  to  me,  and  without  which  I  should 
henceforth  doubt  everything. 

Jesus  Christ  fills  the  world  of  spirits;  He  is  the 
centre,  the  summit,  the  life  and  the  light.  It  is 
He  consequently  who  fills  all  things  for  man,  up 
to  the  limits  of  this  present  life,  and  at  His  ap¬ 
pearance  on  the  threshold  of  immortality,  every 
knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  shall  confess 
that  He  is  Lord,  waiting  until  He  shall  deliver  up 
the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father,  that  God 
may  be  all  in  all.* 

But,  my  brethren,  if  the  power  of  judging  has 
been  conferred  on  Him,  in  order  to  manifest  His 
glory  on  the  confines  of  eternity,  and  that  all  men 
should  honour  the  Son,  even  as  they  honour  the 
Father',  there  is  a  profound  meaning  in  that 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  24 — 28. 


256 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


declaration  of  Scripture,  that  the  power  of  judg- 
ment  has  been  committed  to  Him  because  He  is 
the  Son  of  Man ;  that  is  to  say,  as  a  normal  and 
natural  consequence  of  His  work  of  redemption 
accomplished  on  the  earth.  This  is  the  confirma¬ 
tion  of  the  royalty  that  He  has  acquired. 

It  is  part  of  the  idea  of  this  royalty  that  it  can 
be  resisted.  It  is  over  minds  that  its  authority  is 
exercised ;  that  is  to  say,  upon  free  wills,  free  to 
submit,  free  to  refuse. 

There  are  those  who  have  known  Jesus  Christ 
from  their  infancy ;  there  are  those  who  have 
been  followed  during  the  whole  of  their  lives  by 
the  most  pressing  appeals ;  there  are  those  who 
have  been  inundated  with  that  brilliant  light 
which  He  sheds  in  floods  on  our  paths,  and  who, 
nevertheless,  have  closed  their  eyes,  preferring 
darkness  to  light ;  there  are  those  even  who  under 
His  eye,  and  so  to  speak  in  His  society,  have 

4 

hardened  themselves  like  Judas,  forsaken  Him  like 
Demas,  or  turned  a  deaf  ear  like  the  multitude. 

Then,  there  is  a  category,  doubtless,  too  nu- 


THE  KING. 


257 


merous,  of  Christians  in  name,  who  cling  to  life 
and  tremble  at  the  thought  of  death.  And  what, 
then,  do  they  so  much  fear  in  death  ?  Ah  !  it 
appears  to  me  that  what  they  have  to  fear  above 
everything  is  meeting  with  Jesus  Christ.  For 
them  to  meet  Jesus  Christ  is  to  meet  the  evidence 
of  their  own  condemnation.  Is  it  not  to  meet  at 
the  same  time  all  the  remembrances  of.  His  mercy, 
and  remorse  for  their  own  impenitence  ?  Is  it  not 
to  meet  the  certainty  that  they  themselves,  by 
their  own  fault,  are  the  authors  of  their  own  ruin  ? 
Unhappy  beings  !  You  have  seen  His  face,  you 
have  heard  His  words,  full  of  grace  and  truth. 
Your  conscience  spoke,  your  heart  was  moved, 
your  reason  was  ready  to  surrender,  you  might, 
by  a  sincere  conversion  and  by  a  true  sanctifica¬ 
tion,  have  united  yourselves  to  Him,  have  been 
changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory. 
You  did  not  wish  it !  You  preferred  darkness, 
sin,  death  ;  you  preferred  perdition,  you  will  find 
that  which  you  have  sought.  The  Son  of  Man 
has  but  one  thing  to  say  to  you  :  “I  know  you 


s 


258 


THE  SON  OF  MAN. 


not.  Depart  from  me  !  ”  He  reigns,  but  there  are 
two  faces  to  His  royalty.  He  has  a  terrible  face, 
and  it  is  that  which  concerns  you. 

But  He  has  above  all  an  adorable  face.  And 
how  full  of  sweetness  the  thought  of  Jesus  Christ 
appears  to  me  to  be,  for  those  who  have  learnt  on 
earth  to  say:  “To  me  to  live  is  Christ,”  and  who 
have,  as  the  Apostle  expresses  it,  “  Loved  his 
appearing.”  To  meet  Jesus  Christ,  to  see  Him, 
to  hear  Him,  after  having  loved  Him  so  much ;  to 
see  Him  better  than  we  see  with  our  eyes,  to  hear 
Him  better  than  we  hear  with  our  ears.  To  meet 
Jesus  Christ  after  having  so  much  desired  Him. 
To  be  with  Him  where  He  is  for  eternity,  to  plunge 
with  Him  into  the  oceans  of  life  and  love.  To 
meet  with  Jesus  Christ  after  He  has  been  the 
peace,  the  joy,  the  inexhaustible  satisfaction  of 
the  soul — it  is  to  have  found  heaven  itself.  And 
how  well  I  comprehend  the  holy  rapture  of 
St.  Paul  when  he  exclaims:  “I  desire  to  depart 
and  to  be  with  Christ ;  ”*  “  Who  shall  separate  us 

*  Phil.  i.  23. 


THE  KING. 


259 


from  the  love  of  Christ  ?  I  am  persuaded  that 
neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities 
nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to 
come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature, 
shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God, 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.”* 

To  meet  Jesus  Christ,  is  as  you  see,  the  judg¬ 
ment.  It  is  salvation  or  perdition,  life  or  death. 
Behold,  then,  Him  that  “declareth  unto  man  what 
is  his  thought,  that  maketh  the  morning  darkness.” 
“Prepare  to  meet  thy  God,  O  Israel.” t  To  meet 
Jesus  is  the  most  solemn  moment  of  a  solemn 
eternity. 

What  remains  for  me  to  say  to  you,  if  it  is  not 
that  to  hear  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  learn  to 
know  Jesus  Christ,  to  come  into  contact  with  Him, 
is  the  most  solemn  thing  of  the  present  life.  We 
have  together  applied  ourselves  to  it.  You  and  I 
have  been  led  by  the  goodness  of  God  to  turn  our 
thoughts  towards  this  Divine  Saviour.  According 
to  His  promise,  He  has  been  with  us  and  has 

*  Rom.  viii.  35,  38,  39. 


f  Amos  iv.  12,  13. 


26o 


7 HE  SON  OF  MAN. 


made  us  feel  His  presence.  Have  not  our  hearts 
more  than  once  burned  within  us  by  the  way, 
like  those  of  the  disciples  of  Emmaus,  on  this 
path  that  we  have  trodden  with  Him  ?  Yes, 
O  Jesus,  our  eyes  have  seen  Thee,  our  consciences 
have  acknowledged  Thee,  our  souls  have  exclaimed : 
‘  ‘  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words 
of  eternal  life.”* 

Is  it  possible  that  we  can  deny  Thee  now,  and 
only  increase  our  own  condemnation  ? 

No,  it  is  not  possible.  Will  you  not  say  so,  my 
brethren?  We  shall  not  separate  without  having 
engaged  to  be  faithful  to  Him  in  life  and  in  death. 
And  God,  who  has  begun  in  us  this  good  work,  will 
perform  it  unto  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ. t  Amen  ! 


#  John  vi.  68. 


f  Phil.  i.  6. 


THE 


TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

AN  ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  27TH  SEPTEMBER,  1867, 

AT  THE 

INAUGURATION  OF 

LA  SALLE  DE  LA  REFORMATION, 

AT  GENEVA. 


FRANK  COULIN,  D.D., 


MINISTER  OF  THE  NATIONAL  CHURCH  OF  GENEVA. 


THE 

TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

I  AM  come  here  to  speak  of  the  Teaching  of 
Jesus  Christ.  As  to  the  problem  which  the 
opening  of  this  Hall  recalls,  the  problem  of  the 
evangelisation  of  the  masses  of  the  people  by 
the  ministry  of  the  Word,  it  has  appeared  to  us 
natural  to  begin  by  humbly  placing  ourselves 
before  the  example  of  the  Saviour.  Before  His 
example — but  in  the  first  place  before  His  person. 

Yes,  to  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God,  Son  of  Man, 
the  Word  made  Flesh,  the  eternal  Word,  who 
“  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  humbled 
himself  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even 


264  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


the  death  of  the  cross, ”*  “be  glory,  and  honour, 
and  thanks”  forever  and  ever.  Amen.  “There 
is  none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among 
men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved ;”t  “He  is  the 
beginning  and  the  ending, ’’J  “  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life.”§ 

The  work  which  He  accomplished  during  the 
short  years  of  His  life  and  the  infinite  hours  of 
His  passion,  is  so  great  and  so  closely  united 
in  all  its  parts,  that  it  may  seem  rash  to  analyse 
it  and  to  make  any  distinctions  in  it. 

But  do  not  fear.  The  least  of  the  sun’s  rays 
pays  homage  to  the  sun  himself.  It  is  impossible 
to  study  one  detail,  one  aspect  of  the  Saviour’s 
life,  without  being  led  to  look  at  it  as  a  whole, 
in  its  nature  at  once  divine  and  human,  as  His 
work  of  redemption.  He  did  not  fear  to  reveal 
Himself  gradually.  He  began  by  descending  in¬ 
to  the  lowest  parts  of  the  earth,  like  the  humblest 
of  men,  and  it  was  by  a  gentle  and  imperceptible 
ascent  that  He  led  His  disciples  gradually  up  out 
Phil.  ii.  7,  8.  t  Acts  iv.  12.  X  Rev.  i.  8.  §  John  xiv.  6. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  265 


of  our  vale  of  misery  to  the  shining  summits, 
where  they  could  behold  His  glory  in  His  eternal 
beauty. 

Shall  we,  in  speaking  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ,  be  putting  Him  on  a  level  with  those 
human  teachers,  whom  He  Himself  too  justly 
described  as  blind  leaders  of  the  blind  ?  By 
no  means.  In  this  respect,  as  in  all  others, 
to  compare  Him,  is  to  show  how  incomparable 
He  is.  Jesus  spake,  and  God  be  praised  for  it, 
for  “never  man  spake  like  this  man.”  And 
since  He  did  speak,  His  words  remain  for  His 
disciples  the  rule  for  all  speaking,  as  His  example 
will  ever  be  the  realised  type  of  all  true  holiness. 

Before  entering  on  the  subject,  there  is  a  pre¬ 
liminary  remark,  the  austere  and  melancholy 
evidence  of  which  should  be  frankly  brought  for¬ 
ward,  in  order  to  dispel  all  illusion  and  to  es¬ 
tablish  us  at  once  on  the  firm  basis  of  truth.  Our 
hearts  are  saddened  by  the  sight  of  society 
tainted,  like  all  other  human  society,  alas !  by 
the  malady  of  sin,  under  its  infinitely  diverse  and 


266  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


lamentable  forms.  Unbelief,  immorality,  the 
darkness  of  perdition,  prevail  among  the  mul¬ 
titudes  who  escape  us,  and  who  are  sinning, 
suffering,  dying  around  us.  The  preaching  of 
the  Word,  no  doubt,  arrests  some,  but  it  seems 
to  us  not  to  reach  the  masses,  and  it  attracts 
but  a  very  limited  number  of  souls,  when  we 
want  to  gain  all.  We  flatter  ourselves,  that  with 
new  means,  we  shall  obtain  fresh  results.  But 
do  not  let  us  flatter  ourselves  too  much.  All 
that  it  was  possible  to  do,  for  the  spread  of  the 
words  of  eternal  life,  was  done  by  Jesus  Christ. 
Moved  with  compassion  at  the  sight  of  that 
crowd,  which,  like  all  other  crowds  in  His  time 
and  in  ours,  filled  the  cities  and  peopled  the 
country,  it  was  to  the  people  that  His  most 
tender,  most  pressing,  and  most  popular  appeals 
were  addressed ;  He  tried  to  reach  all  consciences, 
to  gain  them  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but 
His  words  were  heeded  by  but  a  small  number, 

and  the  places  most  favoured  by  His  teaching, 

/ 

Chorazin,  Bethsaida,  Capernaum,  have  rendered 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  267 


-themselves  famous  by  the  disappointments  He 
met  with  in  them.  Let  us  take  heed  to  this. 
The  Master  Himself  met  with  insurmountable 

obstacles,  not  only  with  a  few,  but  with  the 

/ 

larger  number.  He,  the  first  among  teachers, 
notwithstanding  the  apparently  irresistible  force 
of  His  gentleness  and  authority,  saw  invincible 
obstacles  rising  up  around  Him.  Self-righteous¬ 
ness,  which  His  spirit  could  not  convince  of  sin, 
frivolous  minds,  on  which  the  earnestness  of  His 
appeals  made  no  impression,  hearts  so  hard  that 
the  sword  of  the  Word  could  not  pierce  them, 
even  when  wielded  by  His  divine  hands.  When 
He  went  forth  to  sow,  for  one  seed  that  fell 
upon  good  ground,  four  were  lost  among  thorns 
or  by  the  wayside.  Did  He  not  Himself  point 
out  the  multitude  pursuing  the  broad  path  that 
leads  to  destruction  ?  Did  He  not  exclaim : 
“  Light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved 

darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds 

^  * 

were  evil?”*  Do  not  let  us  be  surprised,  then, 

*  John  iii.  19. 


268  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


if  it  is  the  same  now.  If  all  our  efforts  to  gather 
together  the  children  of  our  beloved  country  were 
to  fail,  we  could  not  weep  more  bitter  tears  over 
Geneva,  than  Jesus  wept  over  the  city  that  killed  the 
prophets.  This  is  the  heroic  state  of  the  Church, 
ever  since  she  has  had  a  crucified  Master  for  her 
head.  She  knows  that  she  will  never  triumph  upon 
earth,  yet  that  she  must  never  give  way  to  despair. 

This  said,  and  this  reservation  made,  it  was 
nevertheless  by  preaching  that  Jesus  proclaimed 
the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  by 
preaching  that  He  ordained  the  propagation  of  it 
in  the  world.  Having  preached  Himself,  He  sent 
His  disciples  to  preach  after  Him,  and  it  is  to  us 
as  well  as  to  them  that  He  issued  the  command: 
“Go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature.”*  We  cannot  refuse  to  obey  it 
without  condemning  ourselves.  But,  if  we  feel 
ourselves  unequal  to  the  task,  our  resource  will 
always  be  to  go  humbly  to  Him,  and  say:  “Master, 
teach  us  to  preach.” 

*  Mark  xvi.  1 5. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  269 


There  was  no  assumption  of  greatness  either  in 
the  mind  or  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ;  this 
word  that  “shall  not  pass  away;”  there  was 
nothing  of  mystery  either  in  His  views  or  in  His 
person.  There  was  in  Him,  according  to  the  pre¬ 
diction  of  Isaiah,  “no  form,  nor  comeliness,,  and 
no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  him.”*  If  the 
sages  of  the  world  have  sometimes  tried  to  attract 
attention  and  insure  a  welcome  by  a  prestige  of 
attitude,  costume,  or  external  things,  there  was 
nothing  like  it  with  Him.  He  is  so  simple  and 
natural,  and  aims  so  little  at  effect,  even  amongst 
the  Jews,  accustomed  to  see  their  teachers 
clothed  in  flowing  robes  with  broad  phylacteries, 
and  speaking  from  Moses’  seat,  that  we  might 
sometimes  be  scandalised  by  it.  Thus,  we  learn, 
that  when  He  returned  to  Nazareth,  the  town  of 
His  childhood,  and  undertook  to  teach  in  the 
synagogue,  some  one  who  recognised  Him,  said: 
“Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  the  son  of  Mary?”t 
After  long  years  passed  in  obscurity,  and  without, 
#  Isaiah  liii.  2.  f  Matt.  xiii.  55. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


as  it  appears,  in  any  way  making  known  His 
future  plans;  arrived  at  a  mature  age,  He  went 
forth  without  any  recommendation,  a  stranger  to 
all  the  religious  and  political  parties  of  His  time, 
habited  like  a  simple  artisan,  and  began  by  sur¬ 
rounding  Himself  by  other  simple  artizans. 

Though  the  prophet  of  the  desert  bore  witness 
to  Him,  His  witness  was  restricted  to  the  narrow 
circle  of  His  first  adherents.  We  know  now  the 
idea  which  filled  His  soul,  and  which  was  to  fill 
His  life.  He  who  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost,  to  reveal  the  Father  in  heaven, 
and  to  found  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  had 
indeed  something  to  say.  Nevertheless,  this  idea, 
which  ages  will  not  suffice  to  unroll  to  its  whole 
extent,  was  only  brought  to  light  gradually,  natur¬ 
ally,  providentially,  without  either  precipitation 
or  hesitation,  and  in  accordance  with  circum¬ 
stances.  This  life,  so  short  but  so  full,  is,  properly 
speaking,  nothing  but  the  free  development  of  a 
soul  which  expands  and  devotes  itself  day  by  day, 
until  it  was  offered  up  entirely  at  Golgotha.  And 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  271 


as  it  expanded  in  action,  so  also  it  expanded  in 
teaching. 

Speaking  is  too  often,  even  with  the  best  of  men, 
a  difficulty,  an  effort.  In  the  case  of  Jesus — and 
this  is  one  trait  of  His  perfection — words  rise  up 
and  flow  from  His  soul,  as  a  spring  from  its 
source.  They  radiate,  as  it  were,  from  truth,  to 
enlighten  us;  a  halo  of  eternal  life  surrounds 
Him;  and  as  He  goes  on  His  way,  it  illumines 
with  a  divine  light  everything  in  this  life,  from  its 
most  humble  to  its  most  solemn  scenes.  When 
He  enters  the  hospitable  abode  at  Bethany,  a 
woman  is  so  eager  to  entertain  Him,  that  she 
forgets  everything  else,  even  her  soul:  “Martha, 
Martha,  thou  art  careful  and  troubled  about  many 
things;  but  one  thing  is  needful:  and  Mary  hath 
chosen  that  good  part  which  shall  not  be  taken 
away  from  her.”*  These  are  words  of  life  eternal; 
such  as  you  will  also  find  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  in  the  parables,  in  the  last  instructions  to 
the  Apostles,  in  the  prayer  at  Gethsemane,  in  the 

*  Luke  x.  41,  42. 


272  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


cries  of  anguish  at  Golgotha ;  everywhere  and 
always  appropriate.  I  know  nothing  but  the 
conscience  that  presents  a  distant  analogy  to  such 
a  method  of  teaching. 

It  is  from  this  cause  that  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ,  such  as  it  has  been  preserved  to  us  in  the 
few  pages  that  are  called  the  Gospels,  is  presented 
to  us  under  every  imaginable  form  of  language. 
First,  under  that  of  dialogue.  Fie  is  sitting  in 
the  middle  of  the  day  on  Jacob’s  well;  a  woman 
comes,  with  her  pitcher  on  her  shoulder.  The 
Saviour  is  thirsty,  and  asks  her  to  give  Him  drink. 
This  is  an  opportunity  for  one  of  those  casual  con¬ 
versations  that  we  meet  with  at  every  step ;  for 
Him  it  was  an  opportunity  to  utter  those  profound 
but  simple  words,  which  were  to  awaken  the  con¬ 
science  and  open  the  mind  and  soul  of  the  Samaritan 
woman,  and  of  many  others  after  her,  to  the  com¬ 
prehension  of  the  true  God,  and  of  life  eternal. 

He  has  sought  a  night’s  repose  in  a  grove  of 
olive  trees,  near  the  gates  of  Jerusalem.  A 
friendly  but  timid  Pharisee  comes  in  secret  to 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  273 


open  his  mind  to  Him.  Perhaps  it  was  the 
garden  of  Gethsemane ;  the  leaves  flutter  in  the 
breeze;  you  hear  that  incomparable  lesson  on  the 
necessity  of  a  new  birth,  effected  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  in  every  soul  which  looks  upon  the  Son  of 
Man  lifted  up,  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in 
the  wilderness. 

If  an  order,  a  plan  carefully  conceived  and 
followed  out,  is  to  be  discovered  in  the  Saviour’s 
teaching,  it  is  nowhere  more  evident  than  in  that 
part  of  .it  clothed  in  the  form  of  simple  conversa¬ 
tions.  I  should  like  to  analyse  if  it  were  but  a 
single  one  of  these  conversations,  but  time  fails 
for  such  details.  If  one  may  use  such  expressions, 
what  art  and  what  faithfulness,  what  tact  and 
what  intense  spiritual  pre-occupation  in  these 
admirable  tete-a-tete.  With  a  grace  and  natural¬ 
ness  which  never  fails,  He  seems  to  pursue,  with 
a  holy  jealousy,  the  double  object  of  His  ministry, 
to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  and  to  save  the  lost. 
He  will  doubtless  know  how  to  knock  at  the  doors 
of  a  thousand  hearts  at  once,  when  He  has  a 


T 


274  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


thousand  hearts  before  Him,  but  when  He  has  but 
one,  whether  it  is  that  of  a  common-place  woman, 
or  of  a  refined  Pharisee,  it  is  then  that  He  sur¬ 
passes  Himself,  if  indeed,  the  Saviour  can  surpass 
Himself. 

My  brethren,  would  you  know  one  cause  of  the 
limited  popularity  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  ? 
Do  you  wish  for  advice  which  will  cause  it  to 
penetrate  into  the  minds  of  which  the  society 
around  us  is  composed  ?  Let  us  learn  to  mingle 
it  better  with  our  conversation.  Does  not  con- 
versation  form  a  large  part  of  the  words  which  we 
utter?  We  who  preach,  well  know  the  imper¬ 
ceptible  influence  our  sermons  produce  compared 
with  that  produced  by  our  conversation.  Our 
sermons  are  always  more  or  less  prepared,  or  if 
not,  they  are  supposed  to  be.  Our  conversation,  on 
the  contrary,  is  the  most  natural  expression  of  our 
habitual  state  of  mind.  Now,  it  is  this  habitual 
state  of  mind  that  we  must  needs  know,  to  ap¬ 
preciate  at  its  true  value  the  expression  of  our 
convictions. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  275 


Our  sermons  fall  from  too  great  a  height,  are 
too  loud  and  too  far  between.  They  are  like 
storms,  when  the  rain  strikes  the  ground  as  it 
falls,  and  glides  over  the  surface.  But  to  pene¬ 
trate  the  parched  and  arid  ground  of  the  hearts  of 
the  multitudes  around  us,  we  must  have  those 
gentle,  fine,  continuous,  irresistible  rains,  to 
which  the  blessed  influence  of  our  conversations 
might  be  compared,  if  instead  of  leaving  them  to 
the  caprices  of  the  moment,  we  knew  how  with 
fidelity  and  gentleness,  according  to  the  advice  of 
St.  Paul,  to  let  them  be  always  with  grace, 
seasoned  with  salt. 

If  we  look  now  at  another  form  which  the 
Saviour’s  teaching  took,  not  less  worthy  of  atten¬ 
tion  nor  less  applicable  to  ourselves,  we  shall  find 
Him  surrounded,  not  by  a  family  (He  renounced 
that  when  He  left  Nazareth),  but  by  the  group  of 
His  disciples.  What  an  instructive  study  might 
he  made  of  the  relations  of  Jesus  to  those  twelve 
Galileans,  whom  He  took  from  their  boats  and 
their  nets,  to  make  them,  to  use  His  own  ex- 


276  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


pression,  fishers  of  men,  the  spiritual  conquerors 
of  the  earth. 

What  an  admirable  training  He  gave  them, 
both  in  patience  and  in  courage,  during  the  three 
years  which  He  seems  to  have  measured  out  ex¬ 
pressly  with  relation  to  them.  What  constant 
care,  not  only  to  ripen  their  faith  and  to  guide 
them  to  attain  their  own  salvation,  but  to  mould 
them  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  which  He 
reserved  for  them  in  the  world  after  Him.  Never 
a  moment  lost.  Without  illusion,  but  without 
discouragement ;  without  haste,  but  without 
weariness ;  He  instructed,  He  exercised  them, 
He  combated  and  reformed  their  prejudices,  He 
associated  Himself  with  them,  however  unworthy 
they  seemed  of  it ;  above  all  He  attached  them 
to  Him,  and  caused  them  to  say:  “Lord,  to 
whom  shall  we  go  ?  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
life.”* 

Attentive  to  draw  instruction  from  every  cir¬ 
cumstance,  having  them  always  in  His  thoughts, 

*  John  vi.  68. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  277 


we  might  almost  say  that  it  was  solely  for  them 
that  He  worked  miracles  and  delivered  His  dis¬ 
courses.  With  the  future  always  in  view,  He 
was  continually  casting  into  their  minds  the  seeds 
of  the  most  lofty  thoughts,  and  even  at  the  time 
when  they  were  the  furthest  removed  from  such 
ideas,  He  prepared  them  for  the  most  vast  and 
sublime  conceptions.  You  may  see  Him  now 
walking  with  them  on  the  roads  of  Galilee, 
talking  to  them  by  the  way  with  ease  and 
simplicity  like  a  father  to  his  children,  always 
bringing  forth  good  things  out  of  the  treasure 
in  His  heart. 

Now  He  sends  them  to  preach  the  Gospel  of 
the  kingdom  without  Him  in  order  to  exercise 
them,  like  an  eagle  teaching  her  brood  to  fly — 
then  assembling  them  with  Him  in  the  upper 
chamber  at  Jerusalem,  to  give  them  His  final 
instructions,  celebrating  a  last  Passover  with 
them,  communicating  His  spirit  to  them,  causing, 
so  to  speak,  His  soul  to  pass  into  their  souls,  and 
gradually  bringing  -them  to  that  point  when  He 


278  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


had  nothing  more  to  say  to  them  than  :  “  It  is 
expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away.”* 

Do  you  not  suppose  that  the  words  of  Christ 
would  have  taken  a  far  less  hold  in  the  world,  if 
He  had  not  taken  this  special  care  to  deposit  them 
as  living  germs  in  the  living  souls  of  those  who 
may  be  called  His  intimate  friends  ?  Come  into 
the  world  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth,  He 
knew  that  His  witness  would  be  indefinitely 
multiplied  and  extended  by  the  witness  that 
others  in  their  turn  would  bear  to  Him.  He 
arranged  and  disposed  beforehand  the  echoes 
which  were  to  repeat  again  and  again  His  words 
after  Him.  With  His  own  hand  He  lighted  the 
torches  which  were  to  preserve  the  light,  and 
transmit  it  to  future  generations  from  age  to  age, 
till  the  end  of  time. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  differences,  and  allowing 
every  one  to  judge  for  himself  how  far  the 
analogy  exists  (though  it  would  be  an  exaggeration 
to  insist  on  it  too  strongly),  do  we  not  find  in  this, 

*  John  xvi.  7. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  27 


fresh  instruction  singularly  applicable  to  us  all. 
Have  we  not  all  our  intimate  friends,  our  family 
perhaps,  or  if  not,  a  familiar  circle  among  whom 
the  least  germ  of  faithfulness  ought  to  make  us 
carry  on  the  work  which  we  have  at  heart,  each 
•in  his  own  way,  and  in  accordance  with  his 
character  ? 

If  Jesus,  who  had  all  supernatural  means  at 
His  disposal,  had  thought  fit  to  dispense  with  this 
natural  method,  and  had  not  trained  disciples,  we 
might  say :  It  is  quite  intelligible.  He  did 
employ  it,  no  doubt,  to  make  us  feel  to  what  an 
extent  He  submitted  to  the  conditions  of  humanity. 
(He  did  so  entirely  submit  to  them,  that  it  did  not 
rest  with  Him  to  prevent  that  among  the  number 
of  the  disciples,  there  should  be,  alas  !  a  devil.) 
Does  not  His  example  speak  aloud  to  us,  and  is 
there  not  the  more  reason  why  we  should  follow 
the  same  method  ?  We  wish  to  do  a  work  of 
evangelisation  in  the  world,  then  let  us  begin  with 
our  neighbours.  We  ask  God  to  send  labourers 
into  His  harvest ;  but  they  will  not  fall  from 


280  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


heaven,  they  must  be  found  upon  earth.  Our 

* 

children,  our  friends,  the  circle  of  those  who 
gravitate  around  us,  are  part  of  the  harvest,  for 
it  is  a  harvest  of  souls.  It  is  for  us  to  sow,  to 
plant,  to  tend,  and  perhaps  it  will  be  given  to 
them  after  us,  to  do  that  which  we  have  tried  in 
vain  to  accomplish.  I  am  much  mistaken  if  this 
subject  does  not  make  an  earnest  appeal  to  our 
consciences,  and  if  it  does  not  furnish  the  key  to 
incalculable  blessings,  if  not  for  to-day,  at  least  in 
time  to  come. 

I  come  now  to  the  public  speaking  of  Jesus 
Christ;  for  He,  as  you  know,  was  called  upon  to 
speak  to  the  multitude.  The  numberless  benefits 
He  conferred,.  His  unfailing  sympathy  with  all 
human  sorrow,  the  confidence  which  His  cha¬ 
racter  and  person  inspired,  the  gentleness,  the 
earnestness,  the  divine  charm  and  divine  au¬ 
thority  of  His  teaching,  caused  Him  to  be  sur¬ 
rounded  by  an  increasing  number  of  aspirants  to 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  who  attached  themselves 
to  Him  in  crowds  and  followed  Him  everywhere. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  281 


This  appeal:  “Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,  ye 
shall  find  rest  to  your  souls;  ”*  this  appeal,  which 
resounded  through  the  towns  and  villages,  passed 
from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  which,  so  to  speak, 
filled  the  air  wherever  He  passed ;  this  was  the 
call  by  which,  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of 
Tiberias  or  the  hills  'of  Galilee,  He  summoned 
around  Him  the  varied  and  popular  audience  to 
whom  He  addressed  those  incomparable  homilies, 
of  which  the  type  has  been  preserved  for  us  in 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  There  were  not  many 
of  the  rich  among  them,  not  many  learned,  but 
many  exercised  souls.  Nicodemus  and  Joseph 
of  Arimathea,  and  others  like  them,  were  the 
disciples  of  the  twilight.  But  in  the  light  of  day, 
we  should  have  seen  mostly  the  poor,  the  little 
ones,  publicans  and  sinners  ;  in  a  word,  the  real 
crowd,  the  people,  the  people  who  since  His  time 
have  been  destined  to  occupy  an  increasing  place 
in  human  society,  who  threaten  to  escape  us, 

*  Matt.  \i.  28,  29. 


282  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


but  whom  it  is  the  ambition  of  us  preachers  to 
gather  together  and  bring  to  His  feet. 

If  it  is  in  His  character  and  in  His  daily 
devotedness  that  we  must  look  for  the  secret  of 
His  popularity,  the  form  which  He  so  well  knew 
how  to  give  to  His  discourses  was  no  less  adapted 
to  preserve  His  ascendancy.  Who  ever  spoke 
their  own  language  to  the  people,  like  the  Son 
of  Mary?  Not,  indeed,  that  He  ever  abated  an 
iota  of  the  austere  exigencies  of  truth  to  bring  it 
down  to  the  level  of  what  we  should  call  inferior 
minds;  but  putting  Himself  as  regards  their 
experiences  and  their  needs,  on  a  level  with  the 
people,  ignorant  of  their  grandeur  and  nobility, 
He  seized  with  a  firm  hand  the  natural  links  to 
which  He  afterwards  attached  the  most  sublime 
teaching. 

Look  at  this  multitude  whom  the  Master  has 
just  made  to  sit  down  on  the  grass  at  His  feet ; 
they  are  the  poor  of  the  country — men,  women, 
and  children,  the  sick,  men  with  broken  hearts 
and  troubled  consciences,  eyes  wet  with  tears, 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  283 


and  hearts  big  with  sighs,  Nathaniels,  Israelites 
in  whom  was  no  guile,  faces  exhibiting  the 
candour  of  infantine  simplicity.  He  casts  a  long 
and  sympathetic  look  on  these  varied  types  of 
spiritual  pre-occupation,  and  He  is  moved.  At 
length  His  lips  are  opened.  He  begins  with  the 
words:  “  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit:  Blessed 
are  they  that  mourn :  Blessed  are  the  meek : 
Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness.”*  Then,  taking  them  by  the  hand, 
He  makes  them  traverse  in  spirit  the  paths  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  leading  them  in  turn 
into  the  most  mysterious  depths  of  conscience, 
and  to  the  serene  heights  of  communion  with  our 
Father  in  heaven. 

When  He  speaks,  we  might  often  say  that  He 
does  but  serve  as  interpreter  to  the  spirit  within, 
and  to  nature  without.  He  lends  to  the  most 
distant  echoes  of  conscience,  to  the  most  every¬ 
day  scenes  of  life,  to  all  creation,  a  language 

% 

which  will  not  cease  to  be  heard  as  long  as  there 


*  Matt.  v.  3,  4,  5,  6. 


284  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


is  a  voice  of  God  in  the  universe  or  a  human 
soul  to  listen  to  it.  Hence  His  admirable 
parables,  a  method  of  teaching  the  divine  char¬ 
acter  which  we  have  never  sufficiently  brought 
out.  They  bring  to  light,  with  a  clearness  which 
betrays  omniscience,  the  profound  accords  which 
exist  between  these  two  domains  of  God’s  govern¬ 
ment,  the  realm  of  nature  and  the  realm  of  grace. 
They  inundate  with  light,  one  after  another,  heaven 
and  earth,  thus  giving  to  the  truth  testimony  as 
immutable  as  the  idea  of  Him  who,  in  the 
beginning,  created  the  heaven  and  earth. 

What  do  you  think  of  the  corn  of  wheat  that 
must  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  of  the  sower, 
of  the  mustard  seed,  of  the  tares  of  the  field,  of 
the  prodigal  son  ? 

It  would  seem  as  if  this  language,  so  simple,  so 
transparent,  which  reaches  the  mind  as  light 
reaches  the  eyes,  must  be  intelligible  to  all.  Still 
we  must  have  eyes  to  see  even  the  sun,  and 
we  must  have  a  spiritual  sense  to  understand 
a  spiritual  revelation.  The  Saviour’s  words 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  285 


are  always  cloudless,  so  clear,  as  to  render 
inexcusable  those  who  are  not  convinced  by 
them.  But  when  it  is  a  question  of  its  eternal 
interests,  the  soul  of  man,  possessing  the  re¬ 
doubtable  prerogative  of  blinding  itself,  can 
only,  as  has  been  said,  be  convinced  by  being 

•  1  1  , 

vanquished.* 

Hence  the  cardinal,  the  absolute  importance 
that  the  Saviour  attaches  to  spiritual  docility. 
It  is  in  His  eyes  to  so  great  an  extent  the 
necessary  condition  for  the  comprehension  of  the 
things  that  belong  to  salvation,  that  He  does  not 
hesitate  in  many  of  His  discourses  to  make  it  the 
condition,  par  excellence,  of  entrance  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  It  is  the  man  who  heareth 
His  words  and  doeth  them,  whose  house  is  built 
upon  a  rock.  “Not  every  one  that  saith  unto 
me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father 
who  is  in  heaven. ”t  “  If  any  man  will  do  his 
will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be 
*  Vaincne ,  convaincue .  f  Matt.  vii.  21. 


289  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


of  God.”*  Heavenly  things  are  revealed  unto 
babes,  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent. 

Publicans  and  sinners  go  into  the  kingdom  of 
God  before  the  Pharisees.  Not,  indeed,  that 
there  is  respect  of  persons  with  God,  in  favour  of 
ignorance  and  degradation  ;  but  the  minds  of  the 
little  ones,  the  sinners,  in  opposition  to  the  others, 
are  open  to  the  truth,  and  they  will  allow  it 
without  hindrance  to  bring  forth  the  blessed  fruits 
of  repentance  and  amendment. 

The  teaching  of  Jesus  Chrst,  such  as  I  have 
depicted  it,  in  a  manner  far  too  summary  and  yet 
at  too  great  a  length,  does  not,  as  you  perceive, 
in  its  external  form  much  resemble  the  teachings 
of  human  doctors.  Indeed,  whether  we  speak 
of  His  public  teaching,  of  His  more  direct  in¬ 
fluence  upon  individuals  or  upon  His  disciples, 
it  is  less  teaching  properly  so  called,  than  an 
education  to  which  He  submits  them,  a  discipline 
under  which  He  places  them,  in  order  to  lead 

*  John  vii.  17. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  287 


them  by  the  paths  of  repentance  and  conversion, 
to  that  peace,  to  that  joy,  to  that  righteousness, 
in  which,  according  to  St.  Paul,  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  consists. 

Here,  then,  is  our  pattern.  We  shall  never 
speak  like  the  Saviour.  But  let  us  take  heed 
that  our  efforts  tend  to  approach  the  example 
which  He  has  left  us,  and  not  to  widen  our 
distance  from  it.  This  example  clearly  teaches 
us,  that  we  are  called  upon  to  evangelise  souls 
rather  than  to  indoctrinate  them,  and  that  it 
is  far  less  our  task  to  increase  the  number  of 
the  orthodox  than  the  number  of  the  converted. 

In  speaking  thus,  it  may  almost  seem  as  if 
I  were  favouring  that  school  now  so  much  in 
vogue,  which,  condemning  all  precise  assertion 
and  settled  formula,  makes  the  strange  preten¬ 
sion  of  having  the  sovereign  example  of  the 
Master  on  its  side,  in  contrast  to  the  bad  example 
of  His  disciples.  “  Let  us,”  they  say,  “  leave 
alone  the  disputed  systems  of  human  wisdom  ; 
let  us  leave  alone  even  the  laborious  deductions 


288 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


of  St.  Paul ;  and  let  us  return  to  those  living 
words,  so  nicely  graduated,  so  practical,  and 
which,  because  there  is  no  dogma  expressed  in 
them,  shall  not  pass  away.” 

I  confess  I  am  not  sorry,  in  approaching  the 
ground-work  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  find  an  opportunity  of  unmasking  the  dan¬ 
gerous  sophism,  which  may  be  speciously  pre¬ 
sented  under  the  guise  of  a  real  and  important 
truth.  When  the  undogmatic  character  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  Christ  is  insisted  on,  what  are 
we  to  understand  by  it  ?  If  it  means  that 
He  did  not  express  in  formulas  a  complete  and 
coherent  system  of  doctrine,  nothing  is  more  true. 
To  do  that,  He  must  have  written  a  book,  and 
so  far  as  I  know,  He  did  not  write  one.  He  did 
what  was  much  better.  Being  Himself  the  truth, 
He  simply  put  Himself  in  contact  with  souls, 
to  enlighten  and  save  them  according  to  the 
infinite  variety  of  their  needs. 

But  if  it  means  that  the  Master’s  words  do 
not  contain  an  implicit  and  explicit,  that  is  to 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  289 


say,  most  dogmatic  answer  to  all  the  great  ques¬ 
tions  that  oppress  the  soul  of  man  in  the  field 
of  religious  thought,  if  it  means  that  He  did  not 
settle  the  basis  and  trace  the  main  lines  of  a 
definite  doctrine — the  only  doctrine  which,  pro¬ 
ceeding  from  Him,  deserves  the  name  of  evan¬ 
gelic — then  I  do  not  know  of  any  pretension 

more  manifestly  erroneous. 

\ 

Let  us  take  as  examples,  two  or  three  of  the 
questions  of  which  I  have  just  spoken;  let  us 
select  them  from  among  those  of  the  gravest 
character,  and  therefore  the  most  passionately 
agitated ;  and  let  us  see  whether  it  is  true  that 
the  Master  has  left  no  solution  of  them. 

The  question  of  sin  for  instance.  The  point  is, 
whether  man,  in  the  condition  in  which  we  see  him, 
answers  to  the  ideal  of  his  Creator  ?  whether  God 
made  him  such  as  he  is  ?  whether  the  evil  which  is 
in  him  and  which  stains  his  life,  may  not  be  con¬ 
sidered  a  natural  imperfection,  which  ought  to 
disappear  in  the  course  of  life,  like  an  innocent 
shadow  destined  to  be  gradually  effaced  by  the 

u 


290  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


dawn  of  righteousness,  as  night  before  the  day  ?  or 
whether  we  must  conclude  that  there  has  been 
a  fall,  a  revolt,  and  a  catastrophe,  the  shipwreck 
of  man’s  soul  in  the  darkness  of  perdition,  en¬ 
tailing  consequences  of  infinite  misery.  Do  you 
pretend  that  Jesus  Christ  had  no  categoric  answer 
to  this  question  ?  To  what  purpose,  then,  was 
His  whole  life  consecrated  ?  “  The  Son  of  Man 

is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost.”*  Do  you  hear  this  ?  What  does  He 
make  the  condition  of  entrance  into  what  He 
calls  the  kingdom  of  heaven?  “Verily,  verily, 

I  say  unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,” 
(mark  well  the  expression,  “born  again”)  “he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.”t  Who,  then, 
was  it  who  spoke  in  such  fearful  terms  of  “  outer 
darkness,”  of  “  gnashing  of  teeth,”  of  “the  fire 
that  is  not  quenched,”  of  “  the  worm  that  dieth 
not,”  of  “  eternal  punishment?” 

Suppress  this  most  clear  and  trenchant  doctrine 
in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  try  to  replace  it 


*  Luke  xix.  io. 


f  John  iii,  3 


I 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  291 


by  vague  notions  of  your  own,  replace,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  the  words  perdition  and  new  birth,  by 
imperfection  and  progress — you  will  have  utterly 
turned  upside  down  the  edifice  of  His  teaching. 

The  question  of  pardon.  The  point  is,  whether 
the  goodness  of  God,  His  tender  and  paternal 
character,  is  not  sufficient,  whether  the  whole 
Gospel  is  not  contained  in  these  words  :  “  Go 

in  peace,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee?”  whether 
it  is  really  necessary  to  encumber  it  with  all 
this  apparatus  of  a  mediation,  a  sacrifice,  of  a 
Saviour  “  who  was  delivered  for  our  offences,  and 
was  raised  again  for  our  justification  ?  ”  * 

Will  you  venture  to  say  that  on  this  point 
Jesus  Christ  had  no  doctrine;  that  is  to  say,  a 
categoric  assertion  ?  What  did  He  mean,  then, 
when,  on  His  entrance  on  His  ministry,  He  laid 
so  much  stress  on  recalling  the  prophecies  an¬ 
nouncing  the  coming  of  a  Redeemer,  to  show 
the  accomplishment  of  them  in  His  person? 

What  did  He  mean,  then,  by  demonstrating 

*  Romans  iv.  25. 


U  2 


292  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


so  many  times  and  by  so  many  methods,  both 
before  and  after  the  event,  that  “it  behoved  Christ 
to  suffer  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day?”* 
What  did  He  mean  by  presenting  Himself  as 
the  object  of  the  faith  which  justifies  and  regene¬ 
rates  the  sinner  ?  “  As  Moses  lifted  up  the 

serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son 
of  Man  be  lifted  up  :  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life.” t  What  did  He  mean  by  instituting  the 
supper  on  the  eve  of  His  sacrifice,  and  by  after¬ 
wards  giving  it  as  a  mission  to  His  disciples,  to 
testify  to  the  world  of  His  death  and  resurrection  ? 
Suppress  the  clear  and  decisive  doctrine  in  the 
teaching  of  the  Son  of  Man  on  this  point,  and 
for  the  second  time  you  will  have  turned  the 
edifice  upside  down,  you  will  have  reduced  it  to 
ashes. 

The  question  of  the  nature  of  Jesus  Christ 
Himself.  We  want  to  know  whether  He  who 
came  to  seek  and  to  save  us  is  a  more  or  less 
*  Luke  xxiv.  46.  f  John  iii  14,  15. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  293 


fabulous  person;  a  man  who  is  still  not  a  man,  a 
divine  Being  without  divinity;  a  sage  of  an  excep¬ 
tional  character;  a  demi-god,  who  came  from  the 
ranks  of  celestial  creation,  to  inhabit  our  earth  for 
a  time ;  or  whether  by  a  mystery  which  I  do  not 
undertake  to  explain,  but  which  I  adore,  He  is 
Emmanuel,  God  with  us,  the  eternal  Word  who 
made  Himself  man,  truly  man,  for  our  salvation. 
Will  you  venture  to  say  that  Jesus  Christ  has  no 
doctrine — that  is,  a  categorical  assertion  on  this 
point?  You  will  not  say  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
not  a  man,  for  then  we  should  have  to  ask  you 
whether  you  are  a  man  yourself.  Have  you  not 
seen,  have  you  not  touched,  have  you  not  heard 
Him?  Jesus  Christ  is  a  man.  But  what  did  this 
man  like  myself,  my  brother,  say  of  Himself? 
For  every  man  in  his  inward  language  says  some¬ 
thing  of  himself;  carries  about  with  him,  true  or 
false,  the  consciousness  of  what  he  is.  One  says: 
“I  am  of  noble  birth.”  Another:  “I  am  one  of 
the  people.”  There  have  been  some  who  have 
said  to  themselves  from  childhood:  “I  am  an 


294  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


emperor.”  What,  I  ask,  did  He  say?  It  is 
purely  a  question  of  fact.  What  did  He  say 
when  He  called  all  men  upon  earth,  created  after 
the  image  of  God,  to  come  to  Him,  as  the  inex¬ 
haustible  source  of  all  refreshment,  of  all  light,  of 
all  strength,  of  all  peace,  of  all  life  ?  What  does 
He  say  when  He  does  not  fear  to  attribute  to 
Himself  the  power  of  judging  all  things,  of 
pardoning  sins,  of  raising  the  dead,  of  founding 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?  What  did  He  mean 
when  He  provoked,  without  repressing,  that  excla¬ 
mation  of  a  scandalised  crowd:  “Thou,  being  a 
man,  makest  thyself  God.”*  Or  when  He  allows 
a  disciple  to  fall  at  His  feet,  with  the  exclamation: 
“My  Lord  and  my  God.” t  Or  again,  when  He 
uttered  these  unheard-of  words:  “If  ye  had  known 
me,  ye  should  have  known  my  Father  also.”| 
“He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.”  || 
What  does  He  say  within  Himself,  if  it  is  not, 
“I  am  God?”  Exclaim  if  you  will,  and  say,  with 

*  John  x.  33.  f  John  xx.  28.  X  John  viii.  19. 

||  John  xiv,  9. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  295 


the  Jews,  that  He  blasphemes;  but,  at  any  rate, 
you  cannot  refuse  to  receive  the  evidence,  and 
must  agree  that  to  take  away  from  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  Christ  this  primal  assertion,  will  be  for  the 
third  time  radically  to  change  its  nature. 

One  question  more.  Let  us  see,  what  shall  it 
be?  The  authority  of  Scripture?  Whether  the 
living  Word  bore  testimony  to  the  written  Word  ? 
This  is  too  obvious,  we  will  take  another.  Let 
us  take  justification.  The  question  is,  whether 
man  is  justified  by  works,  or  whether  he  has  need 
before  God  of  that  faith,  the  roots  of  which  are 
plunged  into  repentance,  and  which  bears  fruit  by 
regeneration.  Do  you  pretend  that  Jesus  Christ 
has  no  doctrine  on  this  question — that  is  to  say, 
as  plain  an  affirmation  as  you  can  desire?  Who, 
then,  spoke  with  more  disheartening  irony  of  the 
presumption  of  those  who  flatter  themselves  that 
they  are  righteous  because  they  are  so  in  their 
own  eyes,  or  those  of  others?  Who  was  it  who 
represented  the  work  of  salvation  as  something 
so  great,  so  fundamental,  that  He  formally  declared 


296  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


it  impossible  with  man,  and  possible  with  God 
alone?  Who  said:  “This  is  the  work  of  God, 
that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent.”* 
“I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches,  abide  in  me, 
for  without  me  ye  can  do  nothing.”  t 

Read  once  more  the  conversation  with  Nico- 
demus,  and  find  me  a  more  authoritative  exposition 
of  salvation  by  faith,  and  of  the  theory  of  regene¬ 
ration.  Although  a  large  part  of  the  Saviour’s 
teaching  has  less  reference  to  the  salvation  of  the 
individual  than  to  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  the  plan  of  which  He  traces  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  whose  essential  features 
He  portrays  in  a  vast  number  of  parables,  whose 
foundations  He  secures  in  His  last  conversations 
with  His  disciples,  yet  try  to  take  away  from  it 
the  conditions  of  salvation,  such  as  on  so  many 
occasions  He  defines  them  to  be — the  twofold 
conditions  of  faith  in  Christ,  and  Christ  crucified, 
and  of  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  .see 
what  remains. 


*  John  vi.  29. 


f  John  xv.  5. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  297 


No.  If  doctrine  —  that  is  to  say,  dogmatic 
assertion — is  not  seen  at  first  sight  in  Christ’s 
teaching,  a  moment’s  attention  will  suffice  to  show 
that  it  is  pervaded  by  it,  and  that  its  decisiveness 
and  firmness  constitute  its  majesty  and  strength. 
Like  the  skeleton  in  the  human  frame,  it  does  not 
appear  outwardly,  yet  it  is  always  there  to  sustain 
all  the  rest.  Jesus  does  not  propose  problems  for 
the  intellect;  all  problems  being  solved  for  Him, 
and  by  Himself.  But  doctrine — if  I  may  use  the 
word  again — doctrine  is  the  very  basis  of  His 
teaching.  And  it  is  not  enough,  to  say  that  it  is 
the  basis.  We  must  say  that  it  is  the  soul,  the 
life,  the  cause  of  its  existence,  its  existence  itself. 
As  a  sovereign  master,  as  king  of  souls  as  of 
everything  else,  His  mode  of  asserting  His  claims 
is  simply  to  appear.  And  His  words  being  but 
one  form  of  His  manifestation,  it  is  in  them,  no 
doubt,  but  not  in  them  alone,  that  I  contemplate 
His  teaching;  it  shines  resplendent  before  my 
eyes  in  His  person  altogether,  in  His  entire  work. 
He  proclaims  the  truth  that  man  is  a  lost  sinner 


29S  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


by  coming  to  seek  and  to  save  him.  He  proclaims 
that  He  possesses  divinity  by  becoming  incarnate 
to  accomplish  a  perfect  work  of  reconciliation. 
That  a  sacrifice  was  needed  for  the  expiation  of 
sin,  He  proclaims  by  Himself  consummating  this 
sacrifice  upon  the  Cross,  after  having  announced, 
and  in  some  sort,  instituted  it  beforehand.  That 
man  can  only  be  saved  freely  by  means  of  faith,  is 
a  truth,  henceforth  the  hope  of  the  world,  which 
He  establishes  and  proclaims  by  presenting  to  the 
world  the  object  of  this  faith,  which  is  to  give  it 
life — Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 

Our  work  is  doubtless  very  different  from  that 
of  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  not  the  Saviour,  but 
simply  disciples  called  upon  to  bear  witness  to 
Him.  But  on  this  point  His  example  certainly 
does  not  furnish  us  with  a  lesson  of  indifference 
as  to  doctrine,  but  with  plain  and  precise  in¬ 
structions.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  doctrine  trans¬ 
formed  into  conviction  which  alone  confers  on  us 
the  right  to  speak.  Without  it  there  would  be 
no  dignity,  I  had  almost  said  no  sincerity,  in  the 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  299 


ministry  of  the  Gospel.  May  our  yea  be  yea,  and 
our  nay,  nay.  We  cannot  give  too  much  care  to 
the  building  up  and  confirmation  of  our  convic¬ 
tions  by  the  labours  of  the  study,  by  prayer  and 
meditation.  But  after  all,  let  us  learn  from  Jesus 
Christ  that  doctrine  is  less  what  a  preacher  says 
to  others,  than  what  he  says  to  himself,  and  let 
us  take  care  that  our  convictions  do  not  become 
simply  the  livery  of  our  words,  when  they  ought 
to  be  their  soul,  their  life,  the  essence  of  their 
existence.  What  is  the  work  in  question?  To 
proclaim  the  doctrine  of  original  sin  ?  To  prove 
the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ?  To  spread  sound 
views  upon  expiation  ?  By  no  means ;  you  may 
get  all  that  when  you  want  it  with  very  little 
pains,  and  to  very  little  profit.  The  work  is  to 
awaken  men’s  consciences,  to  bring  souls  captive 
to  the  obedience  of  Christ.  It  is  to  persuade 
poor  sinners,  desperately  lost,  to  accept  an  un¬ 
hoped-for  and  indispensable  substitution.  This 
is  the  work  in  hand.  This  it  is  which  alone  will 
rejoice  the  angels  in  heaven.  This  alone  it  is 


300  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


which  for  eighteen  centuries  upon  earth  has  been 
called  evangelisation. 

If  we  inquire  what  was  the  general  impression 
produced  by  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  there  is 
one  trait  in  them  which  in  spite  of,  and  perhaps 
because  of  the  simplicity  of  His  exterior,  was 
equally  striking  to  crowds  and  individuals.  This 
was  the  authority  with  which  He  spoke.  They 
compared  Him  to  the  teachers  of  His  day,  and 
exclaimed  with  a  mixture  of  surprise  and  admira¬ 
tion  :  “  Never  man  spake  like  this  man.”  In 
human  affairs,  skill  in  the  use  of  language  may 
suffice;  but  in  proportion  as  the  subjects  of  which 
we  treat  are  lofty,  we  require  more  simple 

methods  of  persuasion,  more  impressive  and  lofty ; 

\  ' 

when  we  speak  of  salvation  and  of  heaven,  there 
is  but  one  method  of  persuasion  to  be  desired, 
that  which  Jesus  Christ  possessed  in  so  great 
a  degree.  Who  will  teach  us  to  speak  as 
He  did  with  authority  ?  I  should  like  to  in¬ 
vestigate  in  what  this  characteristic  impres¬ 
sion  which  the  Saviour’s  words  made  on  His 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  301 


auditors  consisted,  so  far  as  it  is  applicable  to 
ourselves. 

The  authority  of  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ 
resulted,  if  I  mistake  not,  from  their  incomparable 
accent  of  truth.  I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  He 
always  spoke  the  truth  ;  this  would  be  an  almost 
inappropriate  eulogy,  for  with  Him  sincerity 
reached  the  point  of  perfection.  But  without 
falsehood,  and  without  intentionally  altering  the 
expression  of  their  ideas,  it  is  very  rare  for  human 
orators  to  preserve  what  I  will  call  the  exact 

v 

equilibrium  of  truth.  Thus,  it  must  be  allowed 
that  the  great  emotion  caused  by  public  speaking 
implies  a  sort  of  excitement,  a  mental  rapture, 
causing  the  speaker  to  be  for  the  time,  as  it 
were,  raised  above  himself.  This  is  our  strength, 
but  it  is  also  our  weakness.  Jesus  was  never 
raised  above  Himself.  Hence  this  calm  strength, 
superior  to  all  eloquence,  this  perfect  equanimity, 
this  august  serenity,  this  profound  simplicity, 
which  inspires  confidence,  and  which  always 
gives  a  definite  emphasis  to  His  words. 


302  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


Again,  possessing  the  reality  as  well  as  the 
semblance  of  truth,  He  never  had  to  search  for 
truth,  but  simply  to  produce  it.  One  might  say 
that  His  words  do  but  illumine  outward  things  by 
the  internal  light  which  He  bears  within  Himself, 
and  which  is,  indeed,  as  St.  John  says,  the  true 
light.  Look  carefully,  and  see  if  from  the  simplest 
things  to  the  most  inscrutable  mysteries,  He 
did  not  without  effort  throw  upon  them  the 
exact  measure  of  light  that  they  require.  If,  for 
instance,  there  is  a  dark  impenetrable  place  like 
man’s  conscience,  He  pierces  it,  searches  it, 
brings  its  most  hidden  secrets  to  the  light  of 
day,  so  that  we  have  but  two  courses  to  take, 
either  to  fall  at  His  feet  or  to  turn  away  from 
Him.  Recall  the  scene  of  the  woman  taken  in 
adultery.  Since  the  law  of  God  is  perfect  in 
itself,  He  neither  adds  anything  to  it,  nor  takes 
anything  away  ;  but  with  the  eye  of  a  Master  He 
invariably  looks  at  the  spirit  of  it,  that  it  may 
shine  forth  before  the  eyes  of  the  sinner  who 
thought  himself  secure  because  he  had  observed 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  303 


the  letter.  If  in  the  most  distant  recesses  of 
heaven  there  is  an  inaccessible  object,  the  face 
of  the  unknown  God  which  no  man  can  see  and 
live,  with  a  few  words :  “  Our  Father  which  art 
in  heaven;”  “He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen 
the  Father,”  He  annihilates  the  distance,  He 
withdraws  the  veil,  He  opens  our  eyes,  and  we 
are  constrained  to  exclaim:  “Behold,  He  is  here!” 
It  is  the  same  with  everything.  When  a  soul 
listens  to  Him,  and  becomes  attentive  to  His 
voice,  the  sun  rises  for  it  in  the  invisible  world. 
How  can  it  but  be  subjugated?  Jesus  speaks 
with  authority  because  He  naturally  speaks  the 
very  language  of  evidence  itself. 

Let  us  remember  this,  and  ourselves  possessing 

0 

Him  who  calls  Himself  the  truth,  let  us  not 
forget  that  our  mission  is  not  to  argue  but  to 
enlighten.  Let  us  leave  those  who  trust  to  their 

own  wisdom,  and  who  build  upon  philosophic 

% 

doubt,  laboriously  to  establish  their  pretentions. 
Firmly  seated  on  the  Rock  of  Ages,  wise  with  the 
wisdom  of  God,  we  have  something  better  to  do. 


304  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESVS  CHRIST. 


When  the  shadows  are  thickening  around  us  on 
every  side — shadows  of  sin,  shadows  of  self- 
righteousness,  shadows  of  science  falsely  so  called, 
shadows  from  within  and  shadows  from  without, 
do  not  let  us  waste  our  time  in  trying  to  create 
light,  as  if  it  had  not  been  given  to  us.  It  is  for 
us  to  receive  it,  and  humbly  and  faithfully  to 
spread  it.  It  is  for  us  to  place  ourselves  simply 
as  mirrors  beneath  the  heavenly  rays,  to  reflect 
them  if  possible  in  all  their  transparence  and 
purity. 

In  order  that  we  may  the  better  serve  the  truth, 
we  cannot  strive  enough  to  become  more  and 
more  true.  But,  after  all,  let  us  acknowledge  that 
Jesus  Christ  offered  to  souls  by  a  sincere  soul,  is 
the  simple  secret  of  indisputable  authority. 

'  The  authority  of  the  Saviour’s  teaching  re¬ 
sulted  doubtless,  in  the  second  place,  from  the 
perfect  holiness  of  His  person  and  life.  A  man’s 
teaching  is,  or  ought  to  be,  of  the  same  value  as 
the  man  himself.  And  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  had  such  infinite  weight 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  305 


with  His  hearers,  when  we  consider  the  infinite 
value  of  Him  who  uttered  them.  Never  the  least 
incongruity  between  what  He  is  and  what  He 
does,  nor  between  what  He  does  and  what  He 
says.  Everything  about  Him  is  so  consistent 
and  so  entirely  corresponds,  that  we  may  say  that 
we  hear  perfection  expressed  by  perfection  lived. 
There  are  words  so  simple  as  to  be  almost  trite, 
which  on  His  lips  are  sublime  in  their  aptitude  : 
“  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see 
God.”*  The  first  moralist  might  have  discovered 
that ;  but  does  it  not  startle  us  to  think  of  the 
lips  which  could  have  ventured  to  pronounce  them 
for  the  first  time  ?  On  the  other  hand,  His  most 
extraordinary  precepts  cease  to  be  extraordinary, 
and  fall  into  the  region  of  the  natural,  because 
they  naturally  find  their  illustration  in  Himself.* 
From  whose  mouth  should  we  accept,  as  from 
His,  these  precepts  which  He  Himself  deprived  of 
their  unheard-of  character  ?  “  Love  your  enemies, 

bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that 

*  Matt.  v.  8. 


\ 


X 


306  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


hate  you,  pray  for  them  that  persecute  you, 
that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven.  Be  ye  therefore  perfect, 
even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is 
perfect.”* 

Even  if  it  seems  like  a  truism,  so  self-evident  it 

is,  we  cannot  too  often  repeat  it,  beginning  by 
repeating  it  to  ourselves :  the  true  authority  of 
our  words  is  that  which  comes  from  character, 
and  in  religious  matters  especially  from  holi¬ 
ness  of  character.  We  hear  that  formerly  the 
garb,  the  title,  the  office  of  a  minister  was  re¬ 
spected;  now,  nothing  external  commands  respect, 
we  want  solidity  and  truth.  The  more  corrupt  the 
world  becomes,  the  more  keen  is  it  in  detecting 
the  inconsistencies  of  those  who  aspire  to  reform 

it.  It  has  too  much  interest  in  finding  us  at  fault 
not  to  watch  us  with  lynx-like  eyes.  If  it  can 
possibly  accuse  us  of  luxury,  sensuality,  indolence, 
pride,  or  want  of  amiability ;  if  it  can  but  detect 
anything  of  adulteration  in  our  tones,  our  atti- 

#  Matt.  v.  44,  45,  48. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  307 


tudes,  our  language,  an  undefinable  something 
which  results  from  contact  with  every  day  matters, 
it  is  sure  to  be  laid  to  our  charge.  The  most 
brilliant  preaching  does  but  add  to  the  scandal. 
If,  then,  we  have  it  at  heart  to  raise  the  moral 
level  of  contemporary  society  by  preaching,  let  us*  • 
remember  that  there  is  no  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
like  that  of  a  Gospel  life.  The  reform  that  we 
have  the  holy  ambition  to  bring  about,  imposes  on 
us  the  holy  ambition  always  to  begin  with  our¬ 
selves. 

It  will  only  be  said  of  us,  as  it  was  said  of  Jesus 
Christ:  “Never  man  spake  like  this  man,”  but  in 
exact  proportion  as  it  can  be  said  of  us:  “Never 
man  lived  like  this  man.” 

If  the  holiness  of  Jesus  Christ  had  only  con¬ 
sisted  in  an  abstract  moral  superiority,  it  would 
only  have  conferred  on  Him  an  absolute  authority 
without  real  result.  That  the  same  holiness 
which,  according  to  an  apostle,  made  Him  separate 
from  sinners  and  higher  than  the  heavens,  trans¬ 
formed  into  charity  caused  Him  to  descend  into 


308  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


the  lowest  parts  of  the  earth  to  mingle  with  the 
worst  of  sinners,  was  what  gave  such  an  as¬ 
cendancy  to  His  person,  and  especially  to  His 
teaching.  It  is  a  wonderful  thing  when  we  think 
of  it,  that  in  a  world  so  given  to  laxity  and  mis¬ 
trust,  no  one  should  have  possessed  the  secret  of 
inspiring  confidence  in  the  wretched  and  in  rais¬ 
ing  the  degraded,  like  the  Holy  One  and  the  Just. 
Ancient  fable  tells  us  of  a  divine  minstrel,  who 
attracted  and  charmed  by  the  tones  of  his  lyre 
the  most  ferocious  denizens  of  the  forests  and  the 
deserts.  When  the  Gospels  represent  to  us  the 
Lamb  of  God,  surrounded  by  publicans  and 
sinners,  who  everywhere  quitted  their  haunts  at 
His  approach  to  follow  His  steps;  who  grouped 
themselves  around  His  feet  wherever  He  tarried ; 
and,  subjugated  by  His  words  full  of  grace  and 
truth,  preceded  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  into  the 
kingdom  of  God,  does  not  the  Gospel  present  to 
us  a  prodigy  of  moral  authority  which  leaves  the 
poetic  legends  of  Greece  far  behind  ?  All  true 
success  in  preaching  the  Gospel  must  spring  from 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  309 


the  same  source  as  this  prodigy  ;  and  the  source 

% 

from  which  it  springs,  is  charity. 

The  worst  of  men  (and  woe  to  them  who  do 
not  feel  themselves  to  be  the  worst)  are  not 
merely  wicked;  they  are  distrustful,  suspicious, 
always  ready  to  become  savage.  Present  to 
them  the  image  of  holiness,  and  they  feel  at  once 
that  they  are  in  the  presence  of  a  master,  the 
sight  of  whom  disturbs  them.  They  are  seized 
with  fear,  and  feel  a  mental  irritation.  But  this 
austere  and  formidable  image  of  holiness,  by  a 
metamorphosis  as  natural  as  it  is  unexpected, 
transforms  itself  into  the  image  of  charity,  who 
understands  and  makes  herself  understood,  who 
blesses  us,  and  pardons  and  devotes  herself ;  and 
you  will  first  see  surprise  succeed  to  fear,  peace  to 
irritation,  curiosity  to  stubbornness ;  perhaps,  at 
length,  you  may  see  life  take  the  place  of  death, 
and  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God 
succeed  to  the  bondage  of  Satan.  If  we  have 
been  vanquished  ourselves,  we  ought  to  know  how 
to  vanquish  others,  and  that  it  is  only  by  charity 


V 

3io  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


that  they  can  be  vanquished.  Not  indeed  by  our 
own  charity.  We  did  not  accomplish  the  sacrifice 
of  redemption,  and  it  is  not  our  name  that  is  given 
unto  men  whereby  they  may  be  saved.  But  the 
charity  of  Christ — and  this  again  is  one  of  the 
marvels  connected  with  it — must  always  be  pre¬ 
ceded,  accompanied,  and  recommended  by  the 
charity  of  His  disciples.  Charity  delights  in  em¬ 
ploying  us,  doubtless,  to  do  us  good,  in  doing 
good  to  others.  “Now  then  we  are  ambassa¬ 
dors  for  Christ.”* 

I  will  conclude  by  applying  this  last  reflection 
to  the  subject  which  has  occupied  us  this  evening. 
Called  to  carry  on  in  the  world  the  work  of  Jesus 
Christ,  let  us  always  take  heed  that  we  walk  in 

His  steps.  If  His  is  the  only  name  given  unto 

\ 

men  whereby  they  may  be  saved,  He  no  less 
demands  that  we  shall  partake  of  the  travail  of 
His  soul.  And  it  constitutes  our  nobility  and 
glory,  as  Christians,  to  be  able  to  work  not  only 


*  2  Cor.  v.  20. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  311 


for  Him,  but  with  Him,  and  in  Him.  Let  us  not 
deceive  ourselves.  What  is  wanted  in  this  gene¬ 
ration  is  not  so  much  new  institutions,  nor  more 
men  of  genius,  nor  fresh  miracles ;  it  is  above 
everything  else  a  fresh  manifestation  of  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  in  our  words  as  well  as  in  our  works,  in 
private  life  and  in  public,  in  our  individual  as  well 
as  our  collective  activity.  “He  that  abideth  in 
me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much 
fruit.”*  Now  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  not  the 
monopoly  of  pastors.  It  is  the  soul  of  the 
Church  to  transform  into  the  image  of  Christ, 
the  soul  and  the  life  of  every  one  of  its  members. 


*  John  xv.  5. 


UNWIN  BROTHERS,  PRINTERS,  BUCKLERSBURY,  LONDON,  E.C. 


